A health trust has been the first one in the country to install a new system which monitors waste production and use of energy.

Epsom and St Helir Hospitals Trust is the first hospital to use the ecoDriver, a system which monitors how much energy is being used, how much money the Epsom, St Helier and Sutton hospitals are spending on energy bills and how much waste they are producing.

The information appears on television screens across the sites for staff, patients and visitors to see.

The system also offers handy tips and reminders about saving energy, to help cut the Trust’s projected annual energy bill of £2.8 million.

Samantha Jones, chief executive of the Trust, said: “We all know that CO2 is having a devastating effect on the environment, and it’s time to think about how we can all make a difference. By raising awareness of just how much electricity the Trust is using and by offering staff and patients energy saving advice, we hope to cut down our emissions and save energy.

“But it’s not just the size of our carbon footprint that we hope to reduce. By saving energy, we can also save money on our bills and by doing that, we can invest even more money into providing the best possible care for our patients.”

The Trust already has a number of energy-saving initiatives in place, including upgrading boiler controls to improve energy efficiency, replacing light fittings using new high-efficiency lighting and providing special recycling zones for glass, cans and plastic bottles.

In addition, the Trust’s information technology (IT) team has installed new technology which turns all 2,200 computers to hibernate when they are not in use.

Rupert Hughes, the Trust’s energy expert who led the initiative to install ecoDriver, said: “We’re really pleased to have ecoDriver up and running. It’s a great piece of equipment and we hope it will encourage people to turn lights off, recycle their rubbish and think more about the environment around them.”

For more information visit www.epsom-sthelier.nhs.uk.