South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust (SlaM) is reaping financial and environmental rewards as a result of its commitment to reducing carbon emissions

The Trust is fully compliant with the forthcoming Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) requirements. The Trust has also been certified to the Carbon Trust Standard and is compliant with the environmental management standard (ISO 14001) and the new British Standard for energy management (BS EN 16001).

Graham Richards, Head of Estates and Facilities said, “We take our commitments to reducing our carbon footprint and delivering value for money to taxpayers very seriously indeed. We didn’t want to just do the bare minimum but instead have sought to set an example to others as well as to challenge ourselves.”

All companies (including public sector organisations such as NHS Trusts) that consume over 6,000 megawatt hours of energy a year will be required by law to register their energy use by 30 September 2010. Those that do not face an immediate £5,000 fine and £500 for every day thereafter until they do so.

Mel Blackmore, a Director at Blackmores who offer a bespoke system to help NHS Trusts meet their environmental obligations said:
“Earlier this year Blackmores found that many NHS Trusts are not identifying or documenting environmental requirements to meet imminent regulatory and legislative requirements.

“Many are not only ill prepared for the CRC but they also fail to meet best practice standards on environmental management issues. The cost and environmental benefits of doing so are significant and given the climate of spending cuts and a painful squeeze on NHS funds it is perhaps surprising that they are not taking these issues more seriously.

“SLaM is leading the way with it’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions which is largely thanks to the hard work of Graham Richards and his team. It is likely that SLaM will be the first NHS Trust in the country to achieve the environmental and energy management standards.”

If you would like to learn more about ISO 14001 contact us at Blackmores!