Green Impact Scheme

As part of Hereford Medical Group's ongoing commitment to sustainability it has signed up to the Green Impact scheme. 

Green Impact is an environmental scheme developed by the National Union of Students (NUS). Used in the higher education sector, it has been tailored for use by healthcare providers, helping people to improve their environmental performance and working environments whilst also gaining recognition for their efforts.

The motivation behind the project was a response to increasing awareness of the relationship between health, the environment and the impact that the provision of healthcare can have on the environment and wider society (Bma.org.uk, 2015) (NHS Sustainable Development Unit, 2015) (Costello, Grant and Horton, 2008). It has also been well demonstrated that actions to improve health and the environment are often synergistic such as active transport or diets (Schroeder et al., 2013).

The scheme encourages staff, together with volunteers, patients and service users, to complete the online Green Impact toolkit, which acts as a framework for continual improvement. The toolkit is made up of a variety of environmental actions on issues including food, waste, energy, travel and biodiversity, all of which support HMG's overarching aim of delivering sustainable healthcare.

The completed toolkits are then audited and we hope to be awarded a bronze award in July 2020 and we continue to work towards silver or gold accreditation in recognition of our achievements.

Published: May 1, 2020