Health Trust delivering value and a greener future

Works to install solar panels and energy-efficient boilers at Mid Ulster Hospital are helping the Northern Health and Social Care Trust to deliver on its commitments to create a cleaner, greener future for its services, while driving down costs at the same time.
It’s been almost a year since the Trust established its internal Sustainability Group, bringing a renewed focus to identifying and promoting projects and practices across the organisation which will help to drive sustainability and create a more resilient healthcare system for generations to come.
Paddy Graffin, Director of Infrastructure with the Trust, said: “When we talk about healthcare, people tend to think of just our hospital buildings, but actually there is a huge health estate that Trusts are responsible for.
“It’s important that we are continually reviewing our estate to identify how we can make efficiencies and improvements, and sustainability is a big focus for us in our Corporate Plan.
“We know of the financial pressures facing health and social care, so our Delivering Value agenda has never been more important, and the fact that through making efficiencies we can also deliver a cleaner, greener future in healthcare is a win-win.”
The Northern Trust is focussed on four key areas to drive sustainability:
- Improving energy and water efficiency in buildings
- Switching to low-carbon forms of heating
- Replacing fossil fuel fleet vehicles with low/zero emission alternatives; and
- Encouraging sustainable development through our supply chain.
The latest project has seen 210 PVC windows replaced at Mid Ulster Hospital to new double-glazed units, and 200 solar panels have been installed on the hospital roof.
Steven Johnston, Assistant Director of Estates, said: “We have installed over 200 solar panels on the roof of the hospital which will provide renewable electricity to the site whilst also reducing our running costs.
“These projects in Mid Ulster are just a really good example of ongoing work that our estates department are leading in the field of sustainability.
“Our energy team is very ambitious. We are constantly on the lookout for new opportunities and new technologies for reducing the carbon footprint and energy consumption within the Trust.”
David Anderson, Energy and Environment Manager with the Trust, has been based at the Mid Ulster Hospital site for 22 years.
He said recent investment to upgrade the plant rooms and boiler houses was “terrific news” for the whole community.
“It’s absolutely fantastic to see investment put into this area,” said David.
“To see 16 brand new plant rooms and top of the range boilers massively improving our energy efficiency is terrific news for everyone. Not only are we making all-important savings on costs, but we’re also helping to create greener, more sustainable services for our community.”
The sustainability project has also seen improvements made in the Trust’s community buildings in Cookstown, Magherafelt, Larne, Ballycastle, Portrush, Ballymena, and Ballymoney.
Earlier this year, a £1.2 solar roof installation was completed at Causeway Hospital – the largest solar PV (photovoltaic) roof installation in any health and social care setting in Northern Ireland, and one of the largest rooftop installations on the island of Ireland.
Solar panel schemes have also been rolled out across five other Trust sites, with plans to complete three further schemes in the coming months.
12th December 2024