Shropshire NHS trusts awarded share of £8m fund to boost electric vehicle charging at hospitals
Two NHS trusts in Shropshire have been awarded government funding as part of a scheme to "de-carbonise" their vehicle fleets.
Almost £50,000 will be spent on extra electric vehicle charging points at Shropshire hospitals following an award of funding by the Department for Transport this week, part of government plans to convert the NHS fleet to all electric by 2040.
The NHS fleet of more than 20,000 vehicles is second only to the Royal Mail nationally, and racks up more than 460 million miles every year.
The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (SaTH) was awarded £34,747 to make upgrades across three sites in Telford and Shrewsbury, while the Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital (RJAH) in Gobowen was awarded £13,163.
Inese Robotham, Assistant Chief Executive and Chair of the Trust’s Climate Group, said: "We are delighted that we have secured funding to install nine electrical vehicle chargepoints across the Trust with work starting this month.
"The grant will support the electrification of our NHS vehicle fleet as part of the NHS Net Zero Transport Strategy. It will deliver reductions in fuel and maintenance costs and reduce air pollution that can be redirected into frontline care, improving the experience of our patients and colleagues."
It follows earlier carbon-saving measures at one of the county's NHS trusts announced in June, as a £16.2m project got underway at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital for the installation of heat pumps, solar panels and energy efficiency measures designed to reduce the site’s carbon footprint by more than 3,000 tonnes a year.
SaTH said that when work is complete the investment could save the trust an estimated £1 million a year in energy costs and will support the trust’s estates decarbonisation strategies, green plan and national NHS ambitions of reaching net zero by 2040.
Under the NHS net zero travel and transport strategy, vehicles owned or leased by Shropshire's NHS trusts are required to be "fully de-carbonised" over the next 15 years.
From next year all new vehicles, excluding ambulances, owned and leased by the NHS will be zero emission vehicles - with all new ambulances required to be zero emission standard by 2030.
Earlier this year, NHS England announced plans for up to 80 new electric ambulances for use in services across England as part of its bid to decarbonise the fleets of 10 ambulance trusts, with funding set to be made available for up to 55 more electric ambulances for seven trusts across England over the next financial year.
