Residents in North Shields may be wondering why a hospital chimney is currently being dismantled.
Works are currently under way this weekend to take apart the chimney, which can be seen above the North Tyneside General Hospital, and many may be wondering what's going on. A large crane is situated behind the chimney at the moment in preparation of it being dismantled, so that a new, smaller chimney can replace it.
The reason why the chimney is being replaced at the Rake Lane hospital is connected to a multi-million pound project which aims to slash carbon emissions at the hospital. A major project to decarbonise the hospital is beginning, with the aim of reducing its emissions by 80% in the next few years.
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The £22m scheme, which is being funded by a grant from phase one of the Government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme, was announced in October 2020. It will result in a replacement of the steam system which provides the heating for the hospital, alongside other energy-saving improvements, as part of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust’s commitment to taking action to reduce its environmental impact. It's hoped the successful implementation of the programme will act as an example of how a working hospital can become much more environmentally-friendly, not just for the rest of the Trust’s sites across Northumberland, but also for the NHS nationally.
It will involve more than 60 ventilation units and thousands of metres of hot water piping having to be replaced, the high-voltage substation being removed and upgrades to the power system through a large number of replacement switchboards and cables to improve resilience. The chimney that can be seen above the hospital will come down, to be replaced by a new, much smaller one.
Speaking last year, Sir James Mackey, Northumbria Healthcare’s chief executive, said: “This is an extremely important project for us and will act as a real showcase to what we are doing as part of our Sustainable Northumbria commitments. We are investing heavily in our estates and facilities over the coming years, and ensuring new developments and refurbishing existing buildings to make them as sustainable as possible is a key part of that agenda."
He added: “Not just because it is the right thing to do, but because we know that environmental factors play a role in people’s longer-term health and wellbeing, which is why the environment is one of the six key pillars of Our Community Promise, which is our pledge to do more to tackle the wider determinants of health.”
The Northumbria Sterile Processing Centre, for cleaning and sterilising medical equipment, at the Northumbria Specialist Emergency Care Hospital site in Cramlington, was a net-zero development, but it has also helped support the decarbonisation of North Tyneside General Hospital, as the sterilisation department previously located there was a major user of steam provided by the current heating system.
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