NHS Property Services (NHSPS) has announced the opening of what it says is “one of the country’s first net-zero integrated care centres.”
Plans for the £10.9 million Devizes Health Centre were approved in the first half of 2021 with construction beginning in May of the same year.
The centre, located in Wiltshire, will use heat pumps as well solar panels to generate electricity and heat. These green technologies are set to enable the site to be self-sufficient, according to NHSPS.
Services currently provided by Wiltshire Heal and Care at the Devizes Community Hospital will now move to the new health centre with the support of Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon and Wiltshire ICB.
Cameron Hawkins, head of Energy and environment for NHS Property Services, said, “The relationship between our health and our environment are inherently linked. It is vital that sustainability values are embedded in everything the NHS does, so that together we can improve the health and wellbeing of the communities we serve.”
The building forms part of the NHS Trust’s Green Plan which sets the target of reaching net zero by 2040.
NHSPS has reported that since 2019 it has decreased its carbon footprint by 30%, saving the Trust £23 million in associated costs.
Current± recently caught up with head of sustainability at Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Marc Beaumont to discuss how renewable technology can accelerate the Trust’s net zero journey.
