NHS Shared Business Services (NHS SBS) has launched a new sustainable transport and infrastructure framework agreement designed to support the NHS in cutting carbon emissions.

The NHS accounts for 4% of the nation’s total carbon footprint, and according to NHS England, emissions from travel and transport account for 14% of its overall carbon footprint.

This includes 4% for business travel and fleet transport, 5% for patient travel, 4% for staff commutes and 1% for visitor travel.

Transitioning fleets to zero-emission vehicles, encouraging employees towards active forms of travel like cycling, walking and car sharing and looking to low carbon logistics and transportation of goods using pedal power, are some of the interventions the NHS is putting in place to meet its sustainable transport objectives.

NHS England recently outlined its plans to fully decarbonise its fleet in a new travel and transport strategy. 

The organisation, which has the second largest fleet in the country, calculates its vehicles, combined with the impact of commissioned services and staff travel, directly contributes to the 36,000 deaths that occur every year from air pollution.

It has more than 20,000 vehicles travelling more than 460 million miles each year, and NHS has committed to fully decarbonise its fleet by 2035.

From 2030, all new ambulances will be zero emission vehicles. From 2040, all owned, leased and commissioned vehicles will be zero emission.

Its ‘Net Zero Travel and Transport Strategy’ says that come 2033, staff travel emissions will be reduced by 50% through shifts to more sustainable forms of travel and electrification of personal vehicles. 

Anjub Ali, senior construction specialist at NHS SBS, said: “The NHS has set out ambitious goals en route to net zero 2040.

“Our framework agreement provides all NHS organisations with a convenient and compliant way of purchasing a wide range of sustainable transport services and infrastructure to help it get there.”

He added: “We have worked with NHS sustainability, estates and procurement colleagues in designing this framework, and aligned it to fulfil the common themes which have emerged from NHS Trusts’ green travel plans, so it includes a range of suppliers providing transport and infrastructure-related services to support the NHS on its journey. “

Services the NHS can access via NHS SBS’s new framework agreement include the design and build of car parks incorporating solar panels to generate and store electricity; sustainable transport consultancy services; bike hire and repair, low carbon logistics and electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure.