£4m grant means Rugby's St Cross is about to get more efficient - and savings will be pumped into patient care

St Cross, file image. Courtesy of UHCW Trust.

A spokesperson for the trust said that the investment will improve air quality and makethe Barby Road site more energy efficient and savings made in energy costs will be pumped back into patient care.

As part of its Green Plan, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust has secured funding from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) as part of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS), delivered by Salix Finance.

The Trust will install low carbon heating solutions to replace fossil fuel fired equipment as part of its aim to reach net zero by 2040.

The work, due to start later this summer, will take 12 months to complete, with UHCW NHS Trust also investing more than £62,000.

Professor Andy Hardy, chief executive Officer at UHCW NHS Trust, said: “Not only will it assist in delivering our green plan, this work will also provide a positive financial saving that can be reinvested in patient care.

“We are very proud of our hospital at Rugby and the staff that work there, so we look forward to making these improvements.”

Plans include installing a 200KW air source heat pump, thermal insulation measures and the removal of a fossil fuel-fired plant.

This will reduce maintenance costs associated with gas-fired boilers and enable connection of further low-carbon generation systems later on.

A solar array of 1,250 solar panels will also be placed across roof spaces.

The scheme will save more than 600 tonnes of carbon per year.