Healthcare workers rewarded for making eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle choices

Staff are rewarded for making eco-friendly and sustainable lifestyle choices.

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust have become the first NHS Trust in the UK to launch Green Rewards, a behaviour change programme aimed at encouraging employees to take actions that improve sustainability and wellbeing.

The news comes on days after the UK declared a state of environment and climate emergency.

The programme launched to over 20,000 employees across Manchester NHS, covering the Trust’s nine hospitals as well as the city’s NHS community health services through Manchester Local Care Organisation (MLCO).

Green Rewards encourages a range of positive behaviours including recycling, energy saving, sustainable travel and other wellbeing activities such as keeping active and spending time outdoors.

‘Green Points’.

Through an online platform and mobile app, employees are able to track their actions, such as travelling to work actively, and earn ‘Green Points’ for taking part.

Employees that earn the most points in a month are awarded a voucher – with a choice including local cinemas and high street vouchers – whilst top performing departments will be rewarded with donations for Trust charities, with £1,000 to be donated in the first year of the scheme.

Claire Igoe, Head of Environmental Sustainability at Manchester NHS Trust said: “Green Rewards brings together sustainability and wellness in a fun, competitive way that we feel is really going to capture the imagination of our employees.

“We’re rewarding people for taking a whole range of actions that will help us reduce our environmental impact, and as one of the largest NHS Trusts in the UK we’re hoping to lead the way in delivering sustainable healthcare.”