Trust wins Government grants of over £1m to help aid commitment to be greener and cut energy costs | News

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is one of the recipients of a share of a £74 million funding grant to adopt clean energy technologies and improve energy efficiency.

The Government funding has been awarded to 82 NHS Trusts, eight military sites and a prison to help the organisations bring down bills and create savings to be reinvested into frontline services.

In the latest round of grants, CPFT – which provides mental health services and community nursing for older people and those with long-term conditions – has been given £532,000 to install LED lighting and a digital control system which will monitor heating and reduce costs.

In all, CPFT has now been awarded £1 million over the last 12 months from the Government’s energy programme after successfully applying for two separate grants totalling £563,000 for solar panels.

Alison Manton, Associate Director of Estates at CPFT, said: “As a Trust, we recognise our responsibilities not just to our patients and staff, but also the wider community.

“We are committed to our Green Plan and to reduce carbon emissions from energy, travel, and waste so this funding is really vital to help us achieve our goals and the national NHS net zero ambitions.”

The LED lighting will be installed at a number of Trust locations in Peterborough and Cambridge while solar panels have been fitted on to the roofs of the Newtown Centre, Huntingdon, and Alan Conway Court at Doddington Hospital. More solar panels are to be installed at inpatient mental health units at Fulbourn Hospital, Cambridge, by the end of March.

The Resource Centre at Fulbourn Hospital (pictured), which is a base for a number of Trust teams and also houses The Edge Café, has solar panels installed when the building was completed in 2023.

Speaking about the overall funding, Minister for Energy Consumers Martin McCluskey said: “More money will go straight to frontline services as hospitals, prisons and military sites benefit from cheaper bills and cutting-edge green technology.  

“This is our clean power mission in action – cutting bills, investing in public services and providing energy security for our country.

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.”

Dan McGrail, CEO of Great British Energy, added: “Communities are at the heart of our mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower. Clean local energy projects enable communities to directly benefit from cleaner, more secure power.

“This funding will help to create an immediate reduction in energy bills so that millions of pounds can be invested back into vital services for the British public.”

ENDS