Electric cars ordered for NHS staff in green initiative

Jun 3 2010 by Helen Rae, The Journal

A NORTH East health trust is putting its staff in the driving seat as it races to become more environmentally-friendly.

NHS South of Tyne and Wear is among the first NHS trusts in the country to invest in electric staff cars as part of its commitment to reduce its carbon footprint.

The scheme comes as the region continues to be at the forefront of the green car revolution, with 1,300 charging points being installed in the North East over the next three years and Wearside’s Nissan plant gearing up for production of electric car batteries and the Leaf model.

Brent Kilmurray, managing director – commercial at NHS South of Tyne and Wear, which covers Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland, said: “We are constantly looking at new ways to achieve our low-carbon ambition.

“We have already gained national recognition for our development of sustainable buildings.

“Washington Primary Care Centre, for example, was specially designed to incorporate a wide range of energy saving features, including solar panels, a natural ventilation system, solar shading systems, and automatic solar controlled blinds.

“Our investment into electric pool cars further demonstrates our commitment to being more environmentally-friendly through promoting more sustainable forms of transport and eliminating unnecessary travel.”

Nationally, all NHS organisations are required to reduce their CO² emissions by 80% by 2050, and interim reduction targets of 10% by 2015 and 34% by 2020 have also been set.

Currently, more than 13% of CO² produced by NHS South of Tyne and Wear is associated with travel.

As a result, travel and transport are key areas for action in the Trust’s Sustainability Strategy and Management Plan, which has recently been approved by the board.

The strategy also focuses on a variety of other areas, including waste management, procurement and how the PCTs manage their buildings.

Mr Kilmurray added: “Our electric cars, together with initiatives such as car pooling and our cycle to work scheme, are part of a wider package of measures which together will have a real impact on our carbon footprint.”

There are three electric cars, with one based at each of NHS South of Tyne and Wear’s Trust Headquarters in Gateshead, South Tyneside and Sunderland.

They are similar to automatic cars in that they have just two pedals and no clutch, and there are just three gears: forward, reverse and neutral.

Re-charge points have also been installed at each of the headquarters.

Any employee of NHS South of Tyne and Wear can use the cars, which last between 40 and 70 miles between charges.

Sue Collins, who works as a public health practitioner for chronic diseases at Sunderland Teaching Primary Care Trust, is one of the members of staff who have been using the cars.

The 54-year-old said: “At first I wasn’t sure what to expect but the electric car was so easy to use and really nice to drive.

When you come to charging it up, it’s just the same as plugging in a kettle in your kitchen – it’s just a three-pin plug.”