SUSTAINABILITY
Above: All of the hospital’s clinical and housekeeping teams now wear uniforms made by Upcycled Medical. Above right: SageTech Medical will be providing 10 of its SID-Dock devices – which capture and recycle waste anaesthetic gases – into theatres at Cromwell Hospital.
around 1,900 laryngoscope handles and over 9,000 drug trays each year, Cromwell Hospital will save over 3,449 kg CO2
e
(equivalent to powering 435 homes for an entire year), as well as over £10,000 annually, which can be reinvested into patient care.
Replacing air-handling units The function of an air-handling unit is to take in outside air, re-condition it, and supply it as fresh air to a building. An air-handling unit is essential in a hospital, as it provides enhanced air quality and climate control to maintain patient health and promote recovery. The air-handling unit replacement project at the Cromwell Hospital will reduce our carbon emissions by 295 tonnes. Our current carbon emissions for 2022 were 1,703 tonnes, meaning the new air-handling unit will give us a 17% reduction from this project alone. To date we have replaced 21 air-handling units – three in the basement plant room, and 18 in the fifth floor plant room, and have seen a 50% reduction in gas consumption already. As well as making bigger changes within
the hospital, the little changes are equally as important. We’re currently recycling 400 kg of carboard per month, 65 tonnes of paper, card, plastic bottles, and mixed cans, 62.4 tonnes of food waste, and 12,000 cups per quarter, which are being collected and turned into energy, 1,000 litres of cooking oil per year, and 252 print cartridges. Introducing a new Brita Vivreau Filtration system for our patients has also reduced our usage of 140,000 plastic water bottles each year. Patients now have branded glass bottles. We’re also saving 32,000 plastic cups per month by switching to compostable and recyclable paper cups. I’m incredibly proud of the steps we’ve
taken over the last couple of years to reduce our carbon footprint, and we have much more planned in 2024 to continue to do this. I want to urge other hospitals to look into how they can do the same, as even taking small steps can make a huge difference to the planet. We want to be a catalyst for change, sharing best practice and working with our partners across the healthcare sector to help reach Net Zero targets across the industry.
Sarah Melia
Sarah Melia was appointed General manager of Bupa Health Services in 2021, overseeing Bupa Health Clinics and Cromwell Hospital. She had previously – since 2018 – been managing director of Bupa Health Clinics. She started working at Bupa in 2011, starting out as a Regional director in the Care Homes business, before becoming Regional MD – a position she held for three years. Before working at Bupa, Sarah held several senior commercial and operational roles within the retail travel industry, including Operations director for a national travel business, with responsibility for leading over 500 high street travel agents and supporting services across the UK.
March 2024 Health Estate Journal 35
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