We have received over 1000 ideas relating to how the Trust can make savings. Here is what we are doing with some of them:
You said: Perhaps we could look at some parking charging scheme for contractors who are carrying out long term (>1 month) work on our sites, particularly as their vehicles take up precious spaces and cause issues for our own staff and visitors who have to pay?
We did: The Trust is currently looking at contractor car parking and how this can be made better for both staff and those working for us from other places.
You said: Stop printing minutes and documents for meetings, use electronic means of displaying documents required – laptops, tablets or projected from computer screens.
We did: It has now been communicated to all staff that those who have a laptop are now expected to access meeting agendas and papers electronically for meetings rather than printing them out.
You said: I have noticed that all the TVs automatically switch on at the bedside every morning, even if the bed has no patient in it! Surely this is costly and could help towards the debt if they didn’t do this? Just a thought.
We did: This is a great idea and could potentially make a big difference. The Trust is looking at how this might be implemented.
You said: Is it possible to have a charging station for electric cars in the staff car park please?
We did: As more and more vehicles become hybrid, the need for charging stations will increase. The subject of car charging stations has already been discussed at travel plan meetings but may also fall into sustainability and energy which are all in review.
The trust is working on a major energy investment project that, if successful, will see multi-million pound investment in renewal of energy infrastructure which would allow the trust to look at other options i.e. charging points.