Building a greener Frimley Health
We have made a commitment to reduce our operational carbon emissions to net zero by 2040, and this year we published our Green Plan 2022-2025.
Alongside continuous sustainability programmes, a key focus for the plan is to make net-zero everybody’s business, through involving staff in driving improvements in our carbon emissions and integrating sustainability into projects and planning to help make it
‘the norm’ alongside factors such as care quality and finance.
As we progress to a net-zero target, our ambition is to reach a 90% reduction by 2035, reducing the harm to health from carbon emissions and environmental degradation as quickly as possible.
We will target a number of key interventions which will deliver significant savings beyond 2025.
These include:
- The launch of the electronic patient record – Epic clinical transformation programme
- The opening of the new Heatherwood Hospital, resulting in a 1,200 tCO2e (45%) reduction in energy and water emissions on site
- Designing net zero into planning for the redevelopment of the Frimley Park Hospital which may take place over the next 10-15 years
Much of this work is already ongoing and delivering energy savings, and in truth we have been working to reduce our environmental impact for a number of years already. Just a few of our successful programmes have included:
- The introduction of the Warp It re-use platform – saving £50k, 40 tCO2e and 15 tonnes of waste to date
- An electric pool car fleet, booking software and charging points at Wexham Park and Frimley Park hospitals, also setting up several mobile clinical teams with dedicated electric cars, saving over 90,000 business miles claims and 20 tCO2e per annum.
- The installation of LED lighting and a combined heat and power (CHP) plant at Wexham Park Hospital – saving over
1,500 tCO2e and £750k per annum.
Heatherwood Hospital caring for patients and the environment
When the Heatherwood development was completed in late 2021, the hospital achieved a BREEAM Very Good status for its ‘green’ credentials – placing it in the top 25% of buildings in the UK for sustainable value. Environmental impact has featured at every stage of design and construction, and the hospital includes a range of features intended to improve sustainability, such as a solar farm, balancing pool, urban drainage system, green transport options, smart LED lighting in wards and corridors, and green roofs.