Addenbrooke's Hospital
Research and Development
The Rosie Hospital
> Our commitment on environmental issues
> Think Green – reducing our carbon footprint
> Procurement – buying hospital supplies and services
> Addenbrooke’s Arts – welcoming and healing
Our commitment on environmental issues
We will:
Think Green – reducing our carbon footprint

CUH and its hospitals – Addenbrooke’s and the Rosie – are located on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus a 70 acre site to the south of Cambridge and we are very aware of the impact we have on the environment and our communities.
Our Think Green programme has for many years steered us towards effective sustainability in travel, waste management, the running of our wards, sustainable and environmentally friendly buildings, and energy conservation.
Think Green is promoted at the monthly corporate induction days for all new staff. Information is provided on sustainability measures they can take both at work and at home – encouraging all our staff to think about the impact they have on our environment.
This programme requires committment from all of our staff, but to help the programme develop and to keep it fresh in people's minds we have energy representatives in each department of the hospital. Each rep helps to promote good practice in their areas, identify potential energy savings, raise awareness of developments and issues to their colleagues and act as a local contact point for communications, publicity and literature.
A successful initiative of the Think Green programme so far is ‘Switch off Fridays’ when staff are encouraged to use only essential electrical equipment and to switch computers off before the weekend.
Our Think Green programme feeds into the Trust's Sustainability and Environmental Steering Groups which are responsible for manageing strategic developments in sustainability and reviewing assessments for new builds and developments.
Transport and travel
We have won numerous awards as a consequence of our Travel Plan (Access to Addenbrooke’s) and successful strategic partnerships to improve access to the campus. We work in partnership with Cambridgeshire County Council, Cambridge City Council, Cambridgeshire Travel for Work Partnership, Stagecoach in Cambridge (buses), National Express (trains), and Liberty and Countryside Properties (private developer partner for Cambridge Biomedical Campus).
The Travel Plan sets out how the trust is working to make sure that a range of travel options are available for patients, visitors and staff accessing our Campus. The trust takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously, and aims to reduce the demand for car travel by promoting and supporting alternative modes.
Travel initiatives include:
We were the first trust in the country to have its own bus station which is served by almost 60 buses an hour with services running to and from Cambridge and beyond. In 2001 we supported additional bus service to run from the hospital campus to Trumpington Park and Ride. This service is now commercially viable and has been taken over from Stagecoach who are now running the route using a bio bus, reducing the Trust's carbon emissions by 81 tonnes per year.
We have also helped influence development of cycle routes and improved pathways and bus routes. For example, the Haverhill bus used to serve our campus once every hour, but after providing figures to stagecoach and the council showing how many staff live along the bus route corridor, we now have four Haverhill buses an hour stopping at the campus during peak times.
Working with Cambridgshire councils, Addenbrooke's Road - the new access road which links the hospital campus to Trumpington and the M11 - opened in late 2010. It is already helping to improve access to the campus and ease traffic congestion in and around the hospital.
The trust is currently working with Cambridgeshire County Council on the development of the Cambridgeshire Guided Busway, which will provide a reliable, fast and frequent service between Huntingdon and Trumpington via Cambridge town centre, Cambridge train station and Addenbrooke's Hospital. It will also provide a an additional cycle route and pathway onto the hospital campus.
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Sustainable new buildings
The Trust has a dedicated team who develop and implement new builds and refurbishment programmes. Building projects over the value of £2 million pounds are assessed using the nationally recognised BREEAM assessment method which enables us to look at the environmental and sustainability credentials for each project. All BREEAM scores are then reviewed by the Trust's Sustainability and Environment Strategy Group. An assessment is also carried out to measure the carbon emissions for each new build. Waste factors are also taken into account and our in-house maintenance and energy managers review deisngs for new builds and refurbishments to ensure that low carbon and energy systems are considered and installed where possible.
Waste and recycling
We work hard to reuse, recover and recycle waste produced on our site. Recycling facilities for cardboard, plastic, paper, metal, batteries, printer cartridges, glass are available for our staff, patients and visitors to use.
We work with Aid to Hospitals Worldwide (A2HW) – a registered charity that sends much needed redundant/decommissioned but still usable UK medical equipment to developing countries to help improve their healthcare services. Equipment is shipped to over 30 countries including Uganda, Zambia, Sierra Leone and Napal. In 2009 we sent over 11 tonnes of equipment to A2HW.
SwapShop is a simple but effective online forum that allows our staff to exchange or giveaway any unwanted stationary or office equipment to other colleagues in the Trust – saving them from becoming waste. Running off out staff intranet system, it also allows staff to ask other colleagues for items if they can’t buy them from new. Departments can place ads either offering unwanted equipment or requesting items they need. The results so far have been hugely successful with large numbers of items such as printer cartridges, furniture and even fridges changing hands.
Hazardous substances
CUH is aware of the hazardous substances used on the campus, and implements the control of substances hazardous to health (COSHH) and the Health and Safety at Work Act. We only use water-based paints, non-solvent degreasers and non-mercury thermometers. Our staff are fully trained in how to use hazardous substances if their job requires them to and we have procedures in place on how to safely dispose of hazardous waste.
Green spaces
There are a number of green spaces provided on the hospital campus for patients, visitors and staff to enjoy, with more planned as part of our campus development strategy. All our garden waste is composted by our gardening team.
Procurement – buying hospital supplies and services
The Trust's procurement department is responsible for delivering best value and cash releasing savings against operational and strategic procurement activity, while simultaneously endorsing procurement best practice and probity compliant with both Trust, EU and UK legislation. We follow EU directives when purchasing supplies, services and works and adhere to non-discriminatory principles of openness, transparency and equality. Large contracts for the provision of supplies, services and works which exceed prevailing EU financial thresholds are advertised in the ‘Official Journal of the European Union’.
Addenbrooke’s Arts – welcoming and healing

Addenbrooke’s Arts enhances the hospital environment for patients, visitors and staff, by lifting the spirit and bringing pleasure through an innovative, stimulating and engaging arts programme including visual and performance arts. Something about percentage for art from each capital build. Addenbrooke’s Arts is part funded ACT and grants are secured for specific art, music and poetry projects are generously funded by the Arts Council of England.
Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Hills Road
Cambridge CB2 0QQ
Tel: 01223 245 151
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