Hospital is ‘least green in England’

A WEST Midlands hospital is one of the most environmentally unfriendly in England.

Russells Hall Hospital in Dudley has earned a black mark in the ‘green’ stakes.

It produced 5,387 tonnes of carbon emissions in 2015/16, a rate of 58.3kg per square metre of occupied floor space.

That is the highest rate of emissions in England.

At Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Birmingham the site produced 10,061 tonnes of carbon in 2015/16, 51.6kg per square metre, according to the figures from NHS Digital.

In comparison, Birmingham Children’s Hospital produced just 1.2kg of carbon emissions per square metre of occupied floor space.

The West Park Hospital produced 1.4kg per square metre.

Following the Climate Change Act, NHS Trusts are among the government bodies that have targets to reduce their 1990 levels of carbon emissions by 26 per cent by 2020 and by 80 per cent by 2050.

The NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy 2009 identified a 10 per cent reduction between 2007 and 2015 as being crucial to be on the right trajectory for the Climate Change Act 2008 target of 80 per cent reduction by 2050.

The NHS has achieved an 11 per cent reduction over this period.

Activity has increased by 18 per cent over the same period.

The main contributions to this have been from reduced expenditure on goods and services – giving an overall reduction in emissions from procurement of 16 per cent.

Building energy use and travel have reduced by four per cent and five per cent respectively.