Gloucestershire's largest hospitals are on course to become more environmentally efficient after receiving £13.7million funding for a range of projects,

Gloucestershire Managed Services, which provides facilities management services for Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, will work on the projects at Cheltenham General and Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

Aimed at hitting carbon reduction targets and ensuring the hospitals are more energy efficient, the funding will be spread across a number of developments from heating, lighting, solar panels and energy efficiency measures.

Projects, which should be completed by the end of the year, include:

• Heating-system upgrade and pipe insulation
• Solar panels to trust roofs
• Installation of a battery storage system to the trust electrical distribution network
• LED lighting
• Metering to monitor energy consumption
• Upgrade of the building management system which controls the hospital electrical and heating infrastructure
• Installation of a heat pump to create heat from the environment
• Installation of energy efficient fans to the trust ventilation system

Gloucestershire Managed Services managing director Keith Hamer said: "We are thrilled that this funding will enable us to make some important environmental upgrades to Gloucestershire's hospital facilities.

"GMS helps to manage the estate for one of the largest NHS trusts in the country and these projects will drive down the carbon footprint and make our operations as environmentally-friendly as possible.

"Reducing impact on the environment is key to enabling a healthier community and delivering a more sustainable future for the NHS''.

Gloucestershire Hospitals declared a climate emergency in December 2019, recognising climate change as one of the biggest threats to public health, with a target for all NHS organisations to be carbon net zero by 2040.

Awarded through the Public Sector Decarbonisation Fund, the funding will go a long way to achieving these goals in Gloucestershire and it is estimated that over the next seven years it will save the carbon equivalent of 24 football pitches worth of trees.

Professor Steve Hams, director of quality, chief nurse and executive lead for sustainability, said: "This is fantastic news for Gloucestershire Hospitals and a real boost for our greener NHS agenda.

"Although COVID has been the focus for the past 10 months, the climate emergency has not stopped and projects like these will help to make our hospital more sustainable for the future."