Colleagues from North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust recently came together with service users, UNISON and external guests at a special event at Harplands Hospital to celebrate sustainability developments at the Trust and Combined’s commitment to the NHS Greener Plan.
The event included various stalls and activities. Service users from Ward 7 made sustainability pledges which were displayed, as well as a paper mache globe to fit with the theme of the event. Sustainable alternatives and products were on sale, including seed bombs to increase biodiversity, and the Trust’s Estates and Facilities Team had its own stall. The on-site Serco Café held plant-based food taste testing for attendees, and younger service users and their activity workers from the Darwin Centre also created a pledge tree where attendees could make pledges to take forward into their workplace and home life.
Liz Mellor, Chief Strategy Officer, said:
“This was a fantastic event, which celebrated the hard work and efforts of Combined Healthcare’s Sustainability Working Group over the last year as we further develop the Trust’s delivery against the NHS Greener Plan. In that time, the Trust has introduced a range of sustainable initiatives to enhance what we are already doing to be greener and to keep environmental responsibility at the forefront of what we do.”
As well as being time to celebrate sustainability, the event was also held on Worker’s Memorial Day which remembers and commemorates workers who have lost their lives either at work or due to their work. Trade union UNISON donated a number of trees which have been planted alongside a new area of wildflowers at Harplands Hospital that will start to appear during the summer. Baroness Lady Ruth Anderson accompanied UNISON at the event and shared a few words about the importance of recognising Worker’s Memorial Day before cutting the ribbon to mark the awareness day.
Within Combined, the Trust is committed to sustainability and carbon reduction, aiming to decrease its impact on the environment whilst providing outstanding patient care and working environments. The Trust has recently unveiled its new Trust Strategy ‘The future of North Staffordshire Combined Healthcare NHS Trust 2023-2028’ which features a strong commitment to sustainability. The event was a celebration of the work that has happened so far and a way to raise awareness for what initiatives are coming up, and to offer an opportunity for reflection on what else can be done going forward.
Sustainability update – July 2023
Following on from the Sustainability Celebration in May, the wildflower beds that were planted as part of the event have now bloomed and act as an area of biodiversity and natural beauty for the Trust. It demonstrates the Trust’s efforts to support, attract and protect nature and wildlife in various spaces – which is an essential component in our ambition to become net zero. You can view images of the flowerbeds below.
