Scottish hospitals given energy efficiency booster

NHS hospitals and facilities in Scotland will benefit from a £24 million energy efficient scheme that will reduce emissions over the next three years by 10% and save health boards £4 million each year in energy costs.

Funding for NHS Scotland’s carbon reduction programme (CRP) aims to reduce carbon emissions and make hospitals and healthcare facilities more environmentally friendly. Announcing the creation of the £24 million fund, health secretary Alex Neil said: “This money will play a key role in helping to make the NHS more energy efficient, and in reducing its carbon footprint.

“Going green will enable NHS boards to reduce costs, and help to ensure we have an NHS which is fit for the future.”

The Scottish government says the savings will be reinvested in patient services.

CRP grants will be awarded to schemes that can demonstrate that they will substantially reduce carbon emissions.

Projects that have already been given funding include: the installation of a biomass boiler at Raigmore Hospital in Inverness; converting the heating system at Glasgow’s Gartnavel Royal Hospital from oil to gas; and the installation of wind turbines to support remote health centres in the Shetland Islands.