Hospitals secure £2m funding to go green, saving money for front line care
Two hospitals have secured more than £2million of funding to become more energy efficient, saving money for front line care.
Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust (LGT) successfully bid for £2.7million of government funding to install solar energy panels across University Hospital Lewisham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, in Woolwich.
Ben Maguire, associate director of finance for strategy and commercial at LGT, said: “Reducing our energy costs and being more environmentally friendly go hand-in-hand both here, and across the wider NHS, and this is a big step in the right direction, demonstrating our commitment to deliver on our Green Plan ambitions.”
The cash injection is part of a national £100million package from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero for the NHS to install solar power and battery storage solutions to help drive down energy bills.
Generating energy through the solar panels will reduce energy costs, meaning the hospitals can redirect money saved into front line care.
Across the NHS, the new solar panels are expected to deliver savings of around £8.6million a year, and up to £260million over the panel’s lifetime.
Chief Sustainability Officer at NHS England, Chris Gormley said: “This groundbreaking new investment, across 78 NHS Trusts on around 200 sites, will expand solar power generation within the NHS by over 300 per cent, slashing energy costs by hundreds of millions of pounds.
“These vital savings can be reinvested directly into frontline care, ensuring the NHS continues to deliver for our patients and communities.”
Find out more about the sustainability work happening across LGT – along with the wider ambitions for the NHS – at: https://www.lewishamandgreenwich.nhs.uk/energysustainability
Pictured top: Solar panels will be installed across University Hospital Lewisham as part of the initiative (Picture: LGT)
