7 August 2025
Photo caption: Jake Mound-Evans, a Chargehand Porter, with one of the cardboard bales
Over £17 million of funding has been secured for various green projects at The Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust.
The funding will benefit patients by improving the air quality, reducing the environmental impact and promoting healthier and more sustainable care practices – which will ultimately lead to better patient outcomes.
The Trust, which runs the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital (RSH) and Princess Royal Hospital (PRH), Telford, will save on running costs and provide more sustainable health services that will improve the experience for both patients and staff.
Work has started on a new Energy Centre at the Royal Shrewsbury Hospital with the current ageing heating system being replaced and upgraded with modern and more sustainable energy sources.
Grants from the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, National Energy Efficiency Fund (NEEF) and Great British Energy Local Power Plan will also fund energy conservation measures such as solar panels, upgrades of roof and pipework insulation, and low-energy fan systems.
Inese Robotham, Assistant Chief Executive and Chair of the Trust’s Climate Change Group, said: “This major investment in renewable energy generation creates fantastic opportunities for our Trust.
“The funding will deliver significant reductions in our energy costs, and savings can then be redirected into frontline care.
“When the work is complete, the investment could save an estimated £1m a year in energy costs and will reduce emissions by over 3,000 tonnes of carbon each year.
“This investment supports our Green Plan and national NHS ambitions of reaching net zero by 2040.”
Other cost and energy saving measures at the Trust include LED lighting, increasing the number of electric vehicle points, working with partners on greener travel options, and recycling.
Both hospitals now have cardboard balers which have saved 4.6 tonnes CO2/e – the equivalent of driving 20,460 miles in a car – and generated an income for the Trust as the cardboard is sold to recyclers.
Seventeen tonnes of cardboard have been produced and recycled in just eight weeks as a result of using the balers.
The Trust has also submitted a funding bid to install solar panels and LED lighting at Princess Royal Hospital (PRH).
Facts and figures
The Trust has introduced other measures to support greener ways of working at the Trust:
Warp-it
Warp-it is a furniture recycling scheme across the Trust’s sites where reusable items can be redistributed several times over.
Warp-it ((Figures for Warp-it from FY 2024-2025) has:
- Reduced CO2 emissions by 40 tonnes
- Saved £84,430 in one year
- 8 tonnes of waste saved going to landfill
- 970 items saved
Upholstered furniture
A scheme for minor repairs to be carried out on upholstered furniture has been introduced.
Last year, the disposal of upholstered furniture cost the Trust nearly £10,000 and produced 12.5 tonnes of this waste. Wear and tear and minor damage resulting in IPC non-compliance contribute to the large volume of upholstered furniture being disposed of.
Furniture is repaired or re-upholstered and then delivered back to its department. The scheme has saved in excess of £8,000 in procurement costs alone.
Energy-saving lights
The Trust has been successful in receiving funding from NEEF to upgrade LED lighting across the Trust at PRH, RSH, William Farr House and Douglas Court at Shrewsbury Business Park. This includes daylight harvesting sensors for energy saving where appropriate.
Replacing the lighting in William Farr House and Douglas Court will reduce the Trust’s energy bills by around £37k a year alone.
Implementation of Simpler Recycling
Recyclable waste is more than half the cost to dispose of compared to general waste.
There were changes to the law at the end of March 2025 which requires workplaces to segregate waste correctly, having separate containers and collections for:
- Residual (non-recyclable) waste
- Food waste
- Paper and card
- All other dry recyclable materials (plastic, metal and glass)
The Trust will be required to implement recycling in all areas, both clinical and non-clinical to comply with the law. A phased rollout has begun across the Trust and will be in place by the end of the financial year.