We have a government target to cut our carbon emissions by 15 per cent by 2010, and far more stringent targets are being proposed.

Patients don't really appreciate how much energy and water we use. But in our trust, more people are aware of it - we've been banging the drum now for three years.

We started by recruiting a team of 30 environmental champions, scattered through the hospital to improve environmental awareness in their departments, encourage people to recycle paper, turn off machines - the things that we should do but don't. They came up with suggestions for improvements - lighting and heating control. The user is in the best position to comment. What concentrated people's minds was our inclusion in the EU emissions trading scheme designed to reduce CO2 emissions and encourage organisations to become more efficient. We were one of the hospitals included because we are a large site.

We are given an annual emissions allowance and if we exceed it we have to purchase extra allowance from others in the scheme. In the first two years we over-emitted, then under-emitted the third year.

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BACKGROUND

• Cutting edge champion

• Benefit help for council staff

• What worked for us

• Public opinion: Campbell Robb

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• Public sector jobs

• Snakes & Ladders

We have fine-tuned our building management system, avoiding overheating areas in the winter or overcooling areas in the summer and reducing running hours in areas that aren't occupied and [we have] invested in insulation improvements. The lights over patients beds were old-style incandescent light bulbs left on all the time, so we switched to energy-efficient bulbs that actually reduce maintenance costs.

In the first year we invested money and saved £100,000. Gas consumption went down by 14 per cent.

Each year we have a carbon reduction week for patients and staff. It's to get people interested and to show them that green energy is something you can do on a table top. We also do energy tours with board members and management, taking them behind the scenes to show them our plant room and our main boiler house. Overall the carbon footprint of the trust is 11,000 tonnes, but we've secured government funding of almost £3 million for a combined heat and power plant that will reduce our carbon emissions by 3,000 tonnes. That will make a big difference.

Carbon Check

Tom Cumberlege, public sector manager for the Carbon Trust, explains how it is helping Medway to meet its objectives.

“The Carbon Trust worked with Medway to bolster the work they had already done. They signed up to the carbon management programme that we set up in 2006 to ensure that NHS Trusts would have the in-house capacity to manage their own carbon emissions.

“Climate change will have an impact on the health community - airborne diseases and water shortages - so they can see the long-term benefits that working to reduce emissions brings.

“Under an EU directive, public sector buildings will need to put up a certificate stating how their building is performing. We demand a display of commitment - it's not a tick-box exercise. They have got to take the initiative.”

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