3 minute read
South East England
Best Practice
Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust
Kickstart Scheme Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust is part of the Kickstart Scheme run by the Department of Work and Pensions and the Job Centre to get young people into jobs.
It provides funding to create new jobs for people aged 16 to 24 on Universal Credit trying to find work. Job seekers meet up with staff managing the programme from the trust who place them into roles in any service that matches their career goal or just something they show interest in.
Participants are given a 25-hour per week, six-month fixed-term contract. They can move teams while on placement to learn a variety of skills and experience different jobs. At the end of the placement, while they are not guaranteed any sort of employment, they are guaranteed an interview if they apply to a vacancy in the trust.
So far in 2022, the Trust has offered fixed-term contracts to 19 members of staff through this scheme, which has included roles in estates, finance, the nurseries and e-rostering.
It has recruited six people substantively: a nursery nurse, three in our People team, one as a Care Support Worker and one in Facilities, and there are plans to increase the scheme significantly. Care Without Carbon ‘Care Without Carbon’ is Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust’s sustainability strategy to reduce carbon emissions.
Key to the Trust’s progress has been the development of its new Care Without Carbon Sustainability Strategy (Green Plan), approved by the Board in Sept 2021. It sets out how it will continue to meet the Trust vision to provide excellent care at the heart of the community, in the context of climate change.
As a leader in the sustainable health and care sector, Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust is committed to meeting the ambitious NHS England Improvement (NHSEI) targets, and where possible, exceeding them.
The Trust will bring its direct emissions (NHS Carbon Footprint) down to Net Zero Carbon by 2040 and its indirect emissions (NHS Carbon Footprint Plus) to Net Zero Carbon by 2045. An interim target of 57% CO2e reduction by 2025/26 has been set.
Delivering on this strategy will drastically reduce the environmental impact of the Trust and also deliver real health benefits to our patients and the wider community.
The vision of Care Without Carbon is: ‘together we lead the way in Net Zero Carbon healthcare; protecting the environment on which our health depends’.
Best Practice
At the heart of the Care Without Carbon framework are its Sustainable Healthcare Principles – Healthier lives; streamlined processes and pathways; and respecting resources.
The Trust is delivering this through its eight workstreams in areas such as energy use, transport and waste, and also in the clinical decisions made within the organisation.
In relation to the element that focuses on energy use and buildings, the Trust has:
Installed a 55kWp solar array on the roof of the Chailey Westfield building to support the net zero ambition for this building. The Trust is now working up a new heat pump project for the site to replace the existing gas boilers. Continued to purchase 100% renewable backed power, using only ‘clean’ renewable power – i.e. electricity from hydro, solar and wind only. Between 2010-11 and 2021-22 the Trust has reduced its absolute carbon footprint by 3,993 tonnes CO2e. This is a 41% reduction against the 2010-11 baseline and puts it on a trajectory to meet its 25/26 target.
1. Between 2010-11 and 2021-22 the Trust has reduced its absolute carbon footprint by 3,993 tonnes CO2e. This is a 41% reduction against the 2010-11 baseline and puts us on a trajectory to meet our 25/26 target.
