2021/022

Wye Valley NHS Trust has taken a significant step to lower its carbon footprint as part of a £4.7 million pound energy upgrade at the Hereford County Hospital site, which is due to be completed this year.  

The funding comes as part of a wider national decarbonisation plan supported by a grant scheme from The Department for Business Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) delivered by Salix Finance* which helps the public sector work towards their net zero goals.

The multimillion-pound upgrade is underway to provide greener energy and efficiency to Hereford County Hospital and six of the older buildings on the site, including the Education and Development Centre, Post Graduate Medical Centre, Longfield House staff accommodation and Lionel Green building, which was previously used as nurses accommodation 20 years ago. 

Work has already started with the installation of 3,170 low energy lights in the main hospital building, and will be followed by more than 300 roof solar panels, which will provide enough to power the equivalent of 27 UK homes per year. Modern switching mechanisms, 1,163 pipework insulation jackets and 263 metres of pipework lagging to reduce heat loss are also being installed in the buildings across the site.  

A ground source heat pump network, which involves drilling 47 boreholes to 200m into the ground – nearly six miles long are being drilled in total, is also now being installed at locations around the hospital grounds.  This will pump water, naturally warmed by the earth, and convert it into heat to provide useable heat to six of the buildings on the site. 

Alan Dawson, Director of Strategy and Planning at Wye Valley NHS Trust: “We’re very pleased to receive this grant to enable us to undertake this exciting and significant move forward to help reduce our carbon footprint and improve our environmental sustainability. 

“We have already taken a number of steps to reduce our carbon footprint at our community hospitals and this builds upon that progress. 

“We are committed to reducing the impact our activities have on the environment by introducing these new technologies, which will reduce our carbon emissions at this site by 510 carbon tonnes per year and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels for a greener future”. 

Sameen Khan, NHS programme manager for Salix Finance added: ‘Wye Valley NHS Trust began to engage with Salix quite early in their project development process. These discussions came at just the right time preparing the Trust to benefit from an early application submission to the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme.

 “The project team has remained enthusiastic and engaged with the measures and Salix to achieve all the benefits of their decarbonisation projects.”

The company delivering the project is Centrica Business Solutions. Tony Orton, Head of Healthcare Business Development said: “The Trust should be congratulated for taking a further big step towards Net Zero. The range of technologies we are helping them to implement will mean significant improvements in efficiency and sustainability across the estate.”

Background notes for editors: 

• This project has been funded by The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (referred to as the Grant Scheme) via Salix Finance. 
• This energy upgrade at Wye Valley NHS Trust will reduce carbon emissions at this site by 510 carbon tonnes per year and in turn reduce the Trust’s energy bill by £75k to 100k a year. 

Picture caption:

Pictured in front of the boring machine at Hereford County Hospital are, left to right: Martin McGawley (Centrica site manager), Jon Westood (Centrica project engineer), Steve Cresswell (Centrica geologist), Martin Jones (WVT estates and engineering manager), Brian Santry (Centrica project manager), Alan Dawson (WVT director of strategy and planning), Tony Orton (Centrica Head of Healthcare Business Development) and Mark Thomas (WVT project manager)

Ends

Note to Editors WVT:

• Wye Valley NHS Trust is a provider of health services across Herefordshire and beyond. The Trust exists to improve the wellbeing, independence and health of the people we serve.
• By working closely with our partners, we can make good our promise to deliver a quality of care we would want for ourselves, our families and our friends.
• With an estimated annual turnover of around £250 million, we employ around 3,000 staff. We aim to build new relationships between our staff, patients, service users and their carers with the wider community.

For further information please contact:

Fiona Gurney, communications officer, or John Burnett, Communication and Engagement Manager, Wye Valley NHS Trust: 01432 372928