£22m project to reduce carbon emissions at North Tyneside General Hospital completed

The Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust hospital’s steam heating system has been replaced and new large-scale heat pumps and solar panels have been installed, among other improvements aimed at reducing emissions by 75%.

New, more efficient energy transformers have also been installed and two substations have been built to help provide a reliable power supply.

Clare Winter, head of sustainability at Northumbria Healthcare, said: “This project sets a very clear statement about the trust’s ambitions to decarbonise our estate.

“We take our community promise and our net zero Northumbria plans very seriously and are proud of our achievements at North Tyneside General Hospital. It sets the benchmark going forward.”

The project was overseen by Northumbria Healthcare Facilities Management, the estates and facilities subsidiary of the trust, and renewable energy services firm Dalkia.

Funding came from the government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, which has the objectives of making the NHS net zero by 2040 and reducing direct emissions from public sector buildings by at least 50% by 2032.

Damon Kent, managing director at Northumbria Healthcare Facilities Management said: “This has been an extremely important project for us and is another way we have invested heavily in our estates and facilities, ensuring new developments and refurbishing existing buildings to make them as sustainable as possible.

“A significant amount of work has been undertaken to complete this project and we would like to thank everyone involved who helped us reach this milestone.”

Jonathan Kershaw, managing director at Dalkia, added: “This project not only demonstrates technical innovation that delivers significant decarbonisation but also it demonstrates the benefits of the great teamwork and collaboration that has existed between Northumbria Healthcare Facilities Management, the trust, and Dalkia.

“I am grateful to the teams for all their hard work that has helped us get to this point and Dalkia are looking forward to working with the Trust on the next stages of their journey to net zero.”

Northumbria Healthcare also plans to launch a new sustainability action plan in December.