The Green Healthcare Programme is a collaborative and cooperative set of activities by three main stakeholders:

  1. Irish healthcare facilities, who are the main target group.
  2. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the agency that protects the Irish environment, who have commissioned the programme.
  3. Clean Technology Centre, CIT, who are leading experts in resource efficiency and who are working with the healthcare facilities.

CUH imageTo date, 37 hospitals have participated in the Green Healthcare Programme:

  • Covering over 50% of total hospital beds in Ireland.
  • From large acute hospitals to primary community continuing care (PCCC) facilities, and childrens’ hospitals. Primary, community and continuing care facilities can include services such as long stay care, community mental health and disability services, various day clinics, and dental treatment. Those involved in the programme are primarily long stay facilities.
  • Across all 4 Provinces.

The management and staff at all of these hospitals deserve credit for willingly joining the programme to endeavour to improve their organisations’ resource efficiency and bottom line.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has commissioned this programme.

The EPA’s National Waste Prevention Programme (NWPP)  has been promoting greater resource efficiency in Ireland since 2004 and is considered internationally to be an excellent example of such a programme. Several other initiatives in other sectors have also been supported by NWPP to great effect. These include:

Clean Technology Centre (CTC), at Cork Institute of Technology,  is implementing the programme.

CTC is widely accepted as the leading prevention focused research organisation in Ireland as well as being the oldest. CTC’s work in resource efficiency approaches has been highly acclaimed and is closely linked to several national policies and initiatives. CTC consultancy, research and development work has driven several national and regional programmes and methodologies.

To implement the programme, a prevention team has been formed comprising experienced auditors and resource efficiency experts from the Green Business Initiative, Stop Food Waste and Local Authority Prevention Network projects to work directly with healthcare organisations.

 


The Green Healthcare Programme would like to acknowledge the work undertaken by all Health Service Executive and private facilities that participated in the programme, particularly those that allowed the production of case studies on their work. The programme would also like to acknowledge the help and assistance received from Health Service Executive Estates.