Green Action Plan

Project overview

In early 2022, Mary Ann Evans Hospice made a decision that their organisation felt morally, ethically and economically obliged to do more to address environmental issues. 

Following this decision, the hospice started developing an environmental policy and a Green Action Plan. These outline how Mary Ann could make a positive impact on climate change.

The Plan sets out key actions for improving environmental sustainability at the hospice. It includes a target timeline for each action, as well as which team is responsible. It also breaks down the environmental benefits of each action, providing clear reasoning for each measure taken.

The Plan also acts as a progress tracker. It uses a colour-coded system to indicate how much progress has been made against each action.

The Action Plan is regularly updated and progress is shared annually at the hospice’s Annual General Meeting and in the Trustees Report.

Outcomes

The Green Action Plan has helped Mary Ann Evans to take several key actions.

The hospice has invested in an electric pool car for its community nurses. This has saved over £1500 per month on staff expense claims for petrol. It also reduces harmful emissions when travelling to community patients. Electric charging points have been installed in the staff car park, which staff members can also use with their personal vehicles. This makes it easier for people to make the switch to electric.

The hospice is moving towards paperless systems. Clinical teams have started using an electronic patient record system and the Human Resources department are updating their processes to remove paper files and forms. 

The hospice has been able to reduce electricity usage across all of its sites.

Wherever possible, the hospice buys supplies locally. This reduces the travel emissions involved in the supply chain. As an added benefit, the hospice has noticed that local suppliers tend to offer very good prices, helping them save money.

Key facilitators

Informal discussions around environmental sustainability had taken place at the hospice in previous years. This laid the groundwork for implementation of the environmental sustainability policy and Green Action Plan in 2022.

The project is largely led by the CEO, Liz Hancock, who attended a briefing on environmental sustainability with the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations. This helped to improve her understanding of the measures the hospice could take. The work being CEO-led means that people tend to pay attention to communications about the project. It has also made it easier to gain buy-in from the Board of Trustees than it might be if a less senior member of staff was leading the project.

Accessing 'Green Action Plans' from other healthcare organisations was really helpful in developing one for the hospice. In particular, the Green Action Plan for the local Acute Hospital Trust provided a great starting point.

The climate emergency has been added to the hospice's risk register, which gives extra importance to the Green Action Plan. The Senior Leadership Team reviews this register quarterly, assessing how Mary Ann Evans is addressing the risk. The register is also reviewed annually by the Board of Trustees.

Environmental sustainability has been adopted as a standing item by the hospice’s Business Sub-Committee. This also keeps The Board of Trustees up to date on progress, as they review the meeting notes from all sub-committees on a regular basis. 

‘Green Champions’ in each department help keep the hospice's environmental goals at the front of colleagues’ minds and encourage teams to contribute to the key green actions. 

The hospice produces a regular 'green newsletter' to keep staff aware of progress and highlight quick wins. The newsletter has seen good engagement across the organisation.

Challenges

Informal discussions around environmental sustainability had taken place at the hospice in previous years. This laid the groundwork for implementation of the environmental sustainability policy and Green Action Plan in 2022.

The project is largely led by the CEO, Liz Hancock, who attended a briefing on environmental sustainability with the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations. This helped to improve her understanding of the measures the hospice could take. The work being CEO-led means that people tend to pay attention to communications about the project. It has also made it easier to gain buy-in from the Board of Trustees than it might be if a less senior member of staff was leading the project.

Accessing 'Green Action Plans' from other healthcare organisations was really helpful in developing one for the hospice. In particular, the Green Action Plan for the local Acute Hospital Trust provided a great starting point.

The climate emergency has been added to the hospice's risk register, which gives extra importance to the Green Action Plan. The Senior Leadership Team reviews this register quarterly, assessing how Mary Ann Evans is addressing the risk. The register is also reviewed annually by the Board of Trustees.

Environmental sustainability has been adopted as a standing item by the hospice’s Business Sub-Committee. This also keeps The Board of Trustees up to date on progress, as they review the meeting notes from all sub-committees on a regular basis. 

‘Green Champions’ in each department help keep the hospice's environmental goals at the front of colleagues’ minds and encourage teams to contribute to the key green actions. 

The hospice produces a regular 'green newsletter' to keep staff aware of progress and highlight quick wins. The newsletter has seen good engagement across the organisation.

The hospice aims to become completely paperless in the next few years.

There are plans to invest in a second electric pool car. This will double the capacity of the hospice’s fleet, saving money by enabling multiple teams to car pool at once. They also plan to get an electric transit vehicle which will help reduce emissions further.

Going forward, Mary Ann Evans plans to share its environmental successes more widely. This will draw more attention to the work and help to market the hospice to an increasingly environmentally conscious public.