Mapping Greener HealthcareMapping Greener Healthcare

The Trust has been exploring different methods to draw attention to our sustainable agenda so that staff in all areas of the Trust are aware of the causes and consequences of climate change, and what we as an organisation are doing to reduce our environmental impact. These methods include a talk and DVD presentation for staff as well as newsletter updates. However, we were aware that these methods didn’t really involve staff in our efforts. To address this we sought to recruit a member of staff (on a voluntary basis) from each of our 66 workplaces across Kent, Sussex and Surrey – we refer to them as Environmental Champions. Environmental Champions:

• Seek suggestions from colleagues• Inform us of environmental issues of concern where they work• Distribute educational material on our behalf• Address any issues (such as lights being left on) in their workplace• Start environmental debate amongst colleagues• Conduct environmental/travel surveys etc on our behalf

Despite our organization having an uncommonly high number of workplaces in comparison to other NHS Trusts we have achieved good results with this scheme and now have Environmental Champions positioned in the greater number of our workplaces.