THE Injury Unit (IU) at Bantry General Hospital has won a Silver Award for becoming cleaner, greener and more eco-friendly.

The award comes from a project called Green ED, run by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) in the UK.

The initiative is designed to measure and reduce the environmental impact of emergency departments and Injury Units, driving environmentally sustainable practices within the speciality of emergency medicine.

The project helps emergency medical teams find innovative ways to protect nature.

By recycling more, using less electricity and cutting down on waste, Bantry Injury Unit is helping the planet while still taking excellent care of patients who need urgent medicalcare.

Departments can sign-up to the programme directly and work towards achieving evidence-based actions that are divide into Bronze, Silver and Gold levels.

Some of the sustainability measures that were introduced include streamlining waste streams, ensuring bins were being used appropriately and the reduced use of disposable materials including curtains, tourniquets and cups.

They also switched to electronic communication methods rather than postage and cut down on paper and the cost of postage with its associated carbon footprint.

Carole Croke, hospital manager at Bantry General Hospital said they absolutely delighted to receive this Silver Green ED award.

‘Our staff at the Injury Unit have worked incredibly hard to find green solutions that save energy and cut down on waste, I’d like to congratulate staff member Dr Rachel Fellowes, who led the team here in Bantry to help them win this award.’

Marguerite Murray, clinical nurse manager, HSE South West said: ‘We embraced the Green ED initiative in Bantry Injury Unit as they saw it as an ideal opportunity to enhance patient care, to increase their efficiency and to promote stewardship of our valuable resources such as time, staff, drugs and equipment.

The changes we made demonstrably reduced our carbon emissions which has enhanced our overall service.

We, as a multidisciplinary team are very pleased to have been awarded our Silver accreditation this year and looking forward to working towards Gold next year.’

Priscila Lynch, Integrated Health Area (IHA) Manager for Cork South and West said it is a fantastic achievement for Bantry and a wonderful example for other care teams across the HSE South West Region.

‘Taking care of the environment is everyone’s job and the team here has proven that small, smart changes in our clinics and units can make a massive difference.’