Chesterfield Royal Hospital Wins Double Gold for Sustainability Initiatives
The hospital's innovative waste reduction and linen reuse projects have been recognised with national awards.
By Aisha Mahmood
••2 min read
AI
Hospital linen and pyjamas being collected for reuse.
Chesterfield Royal Hospital has secured two national Gold awards for its pioneering sustainability projects focused on reducing single-use items and promoting the reuse of hospital linen.
Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Derbyshire Support and Facilities Services (DSFS) have been honoured with two Gold awards at the Awards for Excellence in Waste Management for the NHS in England 2026. The accolades recognise innovative approaches to reducing waste and optimising the use of NHS resources.
The Trust received Gold in the Best Reduction of Single Use Items category for its work in deconstructing cannula packs. This initiative successfully reduced unnecessary products within the packs, maintaining patient safety standards while achieving significant recurrent savings of £145,683 and an estimated reduction of 102.6 tonnes in CO₂e emissions.
Further recognition came with the Gold award for Best Reuse Initiative of the Year for the hospital's Linen Return Project. This project encourages patients to return hospital-issued pyjamas and linen, facilitating their reuse and reducing waste. During an initial 12-week trial, 233 items were returned, contributing to an estimated reduction of almost 3.5 tonnes of CO₂e emissions.
These awards highlight the commitment of the Trust and DSFS to implementing practical sustainability measures that are clinically safe and provide value to patients and the NHS. The success of these projects also underscores the importance of frontline staff ideas in driving quality improvement and resource efficiency.
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"Winning Gold for both projects is a fantastic achievement and recognition of the work colleagues have put into finding practical ways to reduce waste across the Trust. What makes these projects particularly rewarding is that they show sustainability doesn’t always have to mean making huge changes. By looking carefully at how we use our resources and challenging whether there is a better way of doing things, relatively simple ideas can have a significant impact."
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"We are incredibly proud to see these two initiatives receive Gold awards. They are great examples of what can be achieved when our DSFS colleagues work alongside clinical teams across the Trust to identify opportunities and turn good ideas into meaningful improvements."
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"These two Gold awards are fantastic recognition of our colleagues’ commitment to continually improving how we work. The results speak for themselves, with significant reductions in waste and carbon emissions alongside substantial recurrent financial savings from the cannula project."
