.jpg)
Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) will benefit from new funding to install clean energy upgrades, helping to reduce energy bills.
The government has announced that eighty-two NHS trusts, eight military sites and one prison will receive a share of £74 million to adopt clean energy technologies and improve their energy efficiency.
WWL has been allocated £2,764,000 to install an ‘Internet of Things’ LED lighting system to its Royal Albert Edward Infirmary site, helping to bring down bills and create savings that can be reinvested into frontline services.
Josh Balmer, Sustainability Manager at WWL, said: “This funding is greatly appreciated and is already helping the Trust to lower emissions and reduce energy costs. It is also enabling us to create a more comfortable environment for patients, with lighting that can be adjusted to suit individual needs.
“The improvements are delivered through a vast network of sensors - what we call ‘The Internet of Things - effectively making our ceilings smart. These sensors allow the lighting system to respond to the surrounding environment, detecting natural light levels and room occupancy and adjusting automatically. They will also give us the future capability to monitor temperature, track space utilisation and even locate lost equipment.”
The project represents the final phase of WWL’s rollout of this technology across its main hospital sites – The Royal Albert Edward Infirmary, Wigan, Leigh Infirmary and Wrightington Hospital. To date, WWL has installed 8,000 sensors and achieved energy reductions of 88 to 94 per cent for lighting. It is anticipated that the next phase of the LED rollout programme will reduce energy spend by a further £340,000.
More than £9 million will be delivered in partnership with Great British Energy (GBE) for batteries and solar panels, building on the publicly owned energy company’s £255 million investment in solar power for hospitals, schools and military sites last year.
Health and Social Care Secretary Wes Streeting said: “With lower bills for hospitals, better value for money, and a cleaner, more efficient NHS, everybody wins. Every penny of these savings will be redirected straight back into frontline care and delivering an NHS patients, staff and the whole country can be proud of again. This investment will help us build an NHS fit for the future.”