Digital transformation – Green Plan

Utilising digital solutions is an integral part of the Green Plan’s overarching aims to reduce waste and better manage resources, as well as improving patient care.

The digital transformation area focuses on streamlining clinical and non-clinical processes and enhancing the Trust’s operations where possible. This may include changing how patients order food to the steps taken between information transfers across the Trust.

Our digital transformation objective is to:

Leverage digital technologies to enhance patient care, improve operational efficiency, and reduce carbon emissions through the integration of innovative digital solutions and robust data management, ensuring a sustainable and resilient healthcare system.

Where we are

  • The Trust has a Virtual Ward and “baby view” initiatives in the neonatal ward, reducing staff and patient travel
  • The Trust has remote working software to allow staff to work from home where possible

Where we want to be

  • Complete a review to optimise our approach to laptop/PC usage
  • Continue our expansion of virtual wards and virtual appointment initiatives
  • Review working from home policy and desk booking system in place following trials
  • Reduce printing (and remove colour printing), letters and paper usage across the Trust using streamlined information sharing processes
  • Increase the frequency of our data purges to reduce back-ups

Actions

We have identified the following actions to enable achievement of our digital transformation objective:
Action Trust lead Delivery date
Review the working from home policy and the Trust’s virtual desktop arrangements to encourage, where appropriate and proportionate, remote working to reduce staff travel Green Plan SRO End of 2026
Supported by the Digital Maturity Assessment, explore opportunities to expand virtual wards and appointments. Engage with our digital suppliers and review our supply of hardware (e.g., laptops, servers, PCs) to understand if higher spec devices can extend their life reducing the need for replacement and any other circular economy initiatives CDIO 2028
Review the existing PC power down arrangements to understand if they are working correctly and can be improved/expanded CDIO End of 2027
Complete a review to optimise our approach to laptop/PC usage and ordering CDIO 2027
Improve operational energy demands associated with our hardware (e.g. by replacing inefficient equipment and reducing cooling demands in server rooms) CDIO 2028
Continue to maximise the benefits of digital transformation to reduce emissions and improve patient care, for example, by expanding our virtual pathways Clinical Lead, CDIO and Head of Sustainability 2028
Explore and digitise more Trust processes and policies, for example, annual leave booking Head of Sustainability 2028

← Back to Our areas of focus