2015 was a big year for sustainability in Bristol. We were the first UK city to be named European Green Capital, and a lot went on to celebrate and demonstrate our commitment as a city to sustainability and green living.
As the largest community healthcare provider in Bristol, we are doing our bit to support sustainability in Bristol. One of our key commitments within our community pledge, Benefitting Bristol, outlines how we are focusing on sustainability.
Implementing green transport
One of the ways we are doing this is through the use of shared use hybrid cars and electric bikes.
“I love the electric bike. It has given me the confidence to get back into the saddle and go for it!”
One of our Rapid Emergency Assessment Care Team (REACT) nurses, Julia Walker, has been using the electric bike and loves it. “I love the electric bike. It has given me the confidence to get back into the saddle and go for it. The hills were generally what put me off riding a normal bike to work, but now it is a breeze. Yes I still peddle hard, but I have the joy of ‘assisted technology’ to whoosh me up the hills. Since having the bike I have just clocked up over 1000km (over 620 miles) probably saving myself about £150 in fuel costs! I certainly recommend that everybody gives the electric bike a go!”
Making a bigger difference through mobile working
Our investment into mobile working has also meant we are reducing our carbon footprint and contributing to Bristol being a greener city.
“Mobile working is a way of working that means we can access and update patient notes through an application called TotalMobile on a tablet device. Mobile working allows us to update in real-time, while we are in patients’ homes, which saves us a huge amount of time because we don’t have to go back to the office to update the notes,” Katie King, community nurse.
“One benefit of mobile working is an environmental one; the technology is supporting staff to be out in the field and it is actually reducing the number of return visits back to the base which is improving our carbon footprint as an organisation,” explains Jo Hudson, Deputy Director of Operations.
In 2013, we even recognised the efforts of staff who use resources wisely within our annual staff awards ceremony, the BOSCAs.
Encouraging recycling in offices and bases
We work to ensure that all our bases have the facility to easily recycle used materials in order to improve our carbon footprint. In our head office, we ensure that we do small things like turn off our computers when they are not in use which collectively can lead to a big impact.