Corporate Social Responsibility

As well as providing vital healthcare services, at East Cheshire NHS Trust we are committed to our wider social responsibilities as a major local organisation. 

Our objective to contribute to our local community and be considerate of the environment, this includes our commitment to;

• Promote public health awareness including initiatives, for example, anti-smoking campaigns. 
• Involve patients and carers in shaping services
• Implement plans for carbon reduction
• Implement plans for reducing waste.
   

Sustainable development

Sustainable development, in particular carbon reduction, has become an increasingly important national priority, with the UK committed to reducing carbon by 80% by 2050.

The NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy states:

‘Reducing the carbon impact of the NHS promotes the sustainability and resilience of the healthcare system by:

• helping the NHS to comply with forthcoming legislation and financial incentives;
• keeping costs down by reducing the demand for, and increasing the efficiency of, energy use in the NHS;
• increasing the resilience of the NHS against unpredictable energy supply and prices;
• advertising the sustainability credentials of the NHS as a public sector exemplar; and
• helping to mitigate the negative health consequences of climate change.

The trust has adopted the NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy and has built upon it with aims to deliver reductions in carbon emissions in the following areas:

1. Energy and carbon management
2. Procurement and food
3. Low carbon travel, transport and access
4. Water
5. Waste
6. Designing the built environment
7. Organisational and workforce development
8. Role of partnership and networks
9. Governance
10. Finance

One notable achievement of the strategy so far is an energy-saving scheme which included the installation of a state-of-the art combined heat and power generator at Macclesfield Hospital. The project will shrink the trust’s carbon footprint by around 30%, the equivalent to more than 2,000 tonnes of carbon each year. And by significantly reducing the amount of electricity the trust buys from the National Grid, it will also save the trust £2.5 million over the next 15 years.
 

Volunteers

The trust offers opportunities for volunteers in hospitals and community locations throughout our footprint in Cheshire. Anyone over the age of 16 years can become a volunteer and we offer the chance to gain valuable skills, experience and professional development, particularly for those planning a career in nursing and or general healthcare. The only qualifications needed are commitment, reliability, an understanding and liking of people and a willingness to help.

There are many varied volunteering roles within the trust and volunteers are based at all three hospitals - Macclesfield District General Hospital, Congleton War Memorial Hospital and Knutsford Community Hospital. We also have opportunities in our community locations, which are mostly administrative.