Health centres in Hull, funded and operated through the NHS Local Improvement Finance Trust (LIFT) programme, are becoming some of the most sustainable in the country, thanks in part to an ambitious lighting replacement project.
Hull Citycare have been working with Sewell Facilities Management across their 13 health centres in the city to replace almost 7,000 light fittings with low-energy ones, dramatically reducing energy usage and costs, and lessening the carbon footprint.
Facilities such as Bransholme Health Centre, the Orchard Centre and Wilberforce Health Centre now have every light replaced by an LED, saving tens of thousands of pounds a year.
As well as using less energy, LEDs are brighter than standard lights, give big savings on costs and last up to a decade, ten times as long as a traditional compact fluorescent light bulb.
The final LED of the programme was fitted by technicians Andy Richardson and Craig Webb at Elliott Chappell Health Centre on 14 December 2023, making Hull the only city to have all their health centres fully fitted with LEDs.
Of the 350 community-based healthcare buildings built under the LIFT programme in England, only 24 (as at May 2023) are fully LED lit, and 13 of those are in Hull, so the city is leading the way in energy efficient lighting.
Tim Wigglesworth, Chief Executive of Hull Citycare, said:
“Decarbonisation is at the top of everyone’s priority list at the money, so when Sewell Facilities Management came to us saying they could reduce energy consumption and also save money, it seemed like a win-win situation. It’s already saving the health centres over a thousand pounds every month, which is money that can be spent on improving clinical services and making the health centres even better for patients.”
Sean Henderson, Managing Director of Sewell Facilities Management, who manage building maintenance for the health centres, said:
“After trialling LEDs at Bilton Health Centre, we knew the benefits that moving to LEDs would bring for both the buildings, patients using the buildings and our staff. It was an ambitious target to get all the replacements completed within two years, and our technicians have worked really hard to get the job finished. Now we have much longer lasting lights that don’t need changing every year, they can put their time and energy into ensuring all our buildings stay in the best condition.”
The partnership’s commitment to the environment doesn’t end with putting in the new LED lights, as the old lights will also be recycled, returning to the manufacturers so they can be recycled rather than going into landfill waste disposal sites.
