Net Zero partnership hears how North East NHS trust is cutting carbon emissions

MEMBERS of a growing environmental partnership have been given a “fascinating” insight into how a North East health trust is helping the NHS to meet net zero targets.

The Darlington Employers Environmental Partnership (DEEP) is a collaboration of local employers sharing knowledge, experience and good practice around the net zero agenda.

Launched in May 2023, it now has more than 50 members, and the latest in a series of ‘Network and Learn’ events was held at Darlington Memorial Hospital, where members discovered how County Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust (CDDFT) is reducing carbon emissions.

Members heard how the trust has reduced emissions by 17 per cent since 2019 – slightly better than the national average – through a wide range of initiatives.

DEEP chair Rob Macdiarmid, Head of ESG for Darlington-based global mobility solutions provider, ZIGUP, said: “It was a fascinating insight into the progress being made by our local trust, with projects not only improving sustainability but driving better patient outcomes and cutting costs that can be invested back into the NHS.”

Chris McEwan, Deputy Leader of Darlington Borough Council, and the local authority’s cabinet member for the economy, added: “What it showed was that one of the biggest organisations in the borough is engaged in an amazing number of initiatives around sustainability. This is not just about climate change but improving patient safety and cost reduction, so that more money can go into patient care.”

DEEP members were given a presentation by the trust’s sustainability lead, Sam Goss, and clinical sustainability lead, Dr Cathy Lawson, a consultant in anaesthetics and critical care.

The trust provides healthcare services to 650,000 people and employs around 8,000 staff, working in eight hospitals: Darlington Memorial Hospital, the University Hospital of North Durham, Bishop Auckland General Hospital, and community hospitals at Shotley Bridge, Sedgefield, Weardale and Barnard Castle.

The Government target for the NHS is to reach net zero for direct emissions by 2040, and indirect emissions – taking the supply chain into account – by 2045.

The Health and Care Act of 2022 legally requires all NHS trusts to implement a Green Plan to reduce carbon emissions and achieve climate targets, and CDDFT was among the first to act.

Dr Lawson said: “We are acutely aware that the care we are giving is having a negative impact on the planet, so we have a duty to make a difference.”

DEEP members heard how the trust had partnered Philips, a global leader in health technology, to identify key opportunities to reduce the carbon footprint and waste material at Darlington Memorial Hospital’s intensive care unit – understood to be the first time a global company has collaborated with an NHS trust in this way.

The trust is also working with Durham University on a project to establish a hydrogen-led integrated heating, cooling and power hub to capture waste heat.

Other trust initiatives include:

• Increasing the use of reusable gowns post-Covid. They now account for 80 per cent of the gowns in use.
• Eliminating 100,000 single-use theatre caps annually and saving £13,500.
• Partnering Spennymoor company Sharpsmart to introduce reusable “sharps boxes”, resulting in the elimination of 25 tons of single-use plastic each year, and preventing 140 tonnes of Co2 emissions annually.
• Pharmacy reuse of returned ward medicines in blister packs has cut carbon emissions by 185 tonnes annually and saved £300,000.
• 13 out of 24 fleet vans are now electric, with only the larger tail-lift vehicles using diesel.
• 100kWp solar installation at Darlington Memorial Hospital.
• Air-source heat pumps installed at Memorial Hall.

The trust’s sustainability lead, Sam Goss, said: “We are proud of the progress that’s been made through initiatives that have had patient benefits, cost benefits, and carbon benefits, but we know there is still a lot to do. Our challenge is to make sustainability part of everyone’s day-to-day lives and embed it into every aspect of the trust.”