Working together to create a greener future

KMPT's therapeutic garden and produce for the community

Fresh fruit, vegetables and flowers, straight from Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust's (KMPT) therapeutic hospital garden in Canterbury, are available to buy every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 12noon to 2pm.

Everyone is welcome to visit the two acre walled Webb's Garden, within the grounds of St Martin's Hospital on Littlebourne Road, and now the KMPT team and local community are able to enjoy the home-grown produce for themselves.

You can drop by the pop-up shop to buy fresh food and flowers as well as meet the green fingered volunteers who manage and farm garden alongside the trust's voluntary services team.

All funds raised are used to purchase garden equipment and sustainable materials, so everyone can continue to enjoy Webb's Garden year-round. 

Learn more about Webb's Garden

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Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust (KMPT) teamed up with The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare to add to the NHS Forest, designed to help improve the health and wellbeing of patients, staff and local communities.

The NHS Forest is a national project which promotes preventative healthcare by increasing people's access to green spaces; helping local people to stay healthy and aiding the recovery of patients by using the benefits of the natural environment for therapeutic purposes.

Various KMPT sites have benefitted from the arrival of tree saplings including oak, hornbeam, willow, spindle and box. These were all planted in February 2022 by staff, service users and students from LINK19 and Canterbury Academy.

The students involved were also provided with the opportunity to learn more about the NHS, its roles and potential career pathways, as well as discuss the possibility of adopting KMPT green spaces that they could tend to on a voluntary basis.

 

Read more about how NHS Forest continues to grow with the help of KMPT

DGT becomes the first trust in Kent to decommission desflurane

Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust (DGT) has been looking into how it can reduce emissions associated with anaesthetic and analgesic practices, as these account for two per cent of the NHS carbon footprint.

As a result, the trust announced in February that it is the first in Kent to decommission desflurane, which is an anaesthetic used to put patients to sleep safely during surgery but has a global warming potential 2,500 times greater than carbon dioxide.

This is a fantastic achievement as in the 2021/2022 financial year, the trust used 22,260ml of desflurane, the equivalent to 82,832kg of carbon dioxide. By decommissioning this particular anaesthetic, DGT is dramatically reducing its CO2 emissions.

Read the full story about how DGT becomes the first Trust in Kent to decommission desflurane

 

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Plastic bags project helps east Kent hospitals go green

Pharmacy teams at East Kent Hospitals University NHS Foundation Trust (EKHUFT) have cut their use of plastic bags from a quarter of a million a year to zero.

It is part of the trust's work to become more environmentally sustainable, and meet the NHS's target of being net zero for carbon emissions by 2040.

The plastic bag project was led by staff who are passionate about reducing their impact on the environment and improving care for patients. The team identified the three areas where plastic bags were most used and found sustainable alternatives, meaning the department no longer uses any plastic bags at all.

Read more about how plastic bags project helps East Kent Hospitals go green

Sustainable use of resources at Medway NHS Foundation Trust

Around the Medway Maritime Hospital site, there are water filling stations to reduce plastic waste and Amazon lockers are available for patients, staff and visitors to reduce deliveries and the resulting carbon emissions.

Since November 2022, the Catering Team has reduced the use of:

• plastic cups by 7,600
• foam cups by 1,925
• plastic cutlery by 68,100
• plastic straws by 10,500.

 

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DGT recieves £543,000 to aid in decarbonising children's resource centre

Dartford and Gravesham NHS Trust (DGT) has received up to £543,000 to aid in decarbonising the Children's Resource Centre at Darent Valley Hospital.

The funding, known as the Salix Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme 3B, allows trusts to receive decarbonisation funding provided they show value for money and direct carbon emission reductions, based on a cost per tonne of carbon saved over the life of the project.

The project has been designed to a “Fabric first” approach, where changes to the building are made to reduce heat loss before decarbonisation, so that energy use is minimised, as well as the size and capacity of new equipment.

By improving the wall insulation of the building, the trust will be able to heat the centre with just over a third of the current energy.

The overall project will save over 83 tonnes of carbon emissions each year.

Read more about how DGT received £543,000 to aid in decarbonising children's resource centre

 

Victoria Hospital in Deal started 2022 with a bang with more than £150k worth of investment in creating a sustainable future.

As part of the Kent Community Health NHS Foundation Trust sustainability strategy, the trust installed 284 solar panels at the hospital.

This will help the trust to reduce the amount of carbon dioxide produced to run the hospital by 40 per cent (30,000 kilos), the equivalent of travelling from Deal to London, a distance of 83 miles, 682 times a year.

Read more about how Victoria Hospital has received £150k worth of investment in creating a sustainable future​​