Sustainability at Gateshead Health

Gateshead Health NHS Foundation Trust and QE Facilities (Group) recognise the enormity of climate change and in recent years, we have made great strides in reducing our emissions by implementing initiatives such as introducing electric cargo bikes and electric vehicles to reduce the carbon footprint of our transport division.

On a larger scale, the Group are working towards making the trust energy provision net zero. One way in which they are working towards this goal is the installation of air source heat pumps in seven buildings across the site. The energy generated for these pumps will be sourced from four new sets of solar panels situated on the building's roof along with upgrades to building management systems to improve energy efficiency and performance. These measures are alongside our REGO certified electricity contract and bio-diesel CHP’s which currently save around 800 tonnes of CO2e.

Another initiative rolled out across the Trust has been the implementation of reusable sharps bins across the Trust. Along with the safety benefits, there are environmental benefits too, with around 16 tonnes of single use plastics no longer being produced and incinerated saving approximately over 90 tonnes of carbon emissions each year.  The Trust has also made significant progress in the movement from metered dose inhalers to dry powder inhalers saving around 150 tonnes of CO2e (or a 27% reduction) from 2019/20 to 2020/21.

Find out more here.