Q Exchange
Save an #NHSPound
- Idea
- 2018
Save the #NHSPound is a grassroots campaign to cut waste in the NHS. If everyone in the organisation saved just £1 a week by reducing unnecessary waste it would save £70million-enough to employ 2000 nurses.
Do we, as NHS employees, need reminding that NHS money is our money? Are we as casual about wasting money at home?
We should give every NHS employee an NHS £1 trolley token that they carry in their wallets and purses. That ‘NHS pound’ is their pound, and every time they see it or use it it will be a reminder of how useful their pound can be (Tokens cost approximately 50p each, including printing and key fob).
The money I am applying for would purchase 6000 branded pound coin tokens, enough for everyone in our organisation.
We are compiling a database of great ideas which are used locally and are portable enough to be used nationally, and internationally.
The impact on the environment is also measurable and substantial.
We aim to ask patients their opinions on where they see obvious needless waste. Their perspective is very important to us.
Our project, which officially launched in April, has already shown projected savings of circa £50k locally, with new ideas coming in weekly. I would hope that some higher profile ’great but small’ ideas will give everyone the confidence to submit their own suggestions, no matter how small they may seem.
We were featured in the Bournemouth Echo on April 3rd 2017
http://www.bournemouthecho.co.uk/news/15198951.RBH_will_save___16k_by_switching_biscuit_brand/
We should emphasize the environmental benefits of cutting waste-turning off lights, closing windows, reducing disposable waste etc
Above all, this will only work if everyone in the NHS workforce believes that their actions can make a difference, even if their actions might seem small on their own.
How you can contribute
- Support the initiative and propagate it locally and nationally
- Contribute their ideas to the database, which could be used as a national resource for the whole NHS
Comments
Susana Pereira 18 Jun 2018
Fantastic idea! I liked the fact that you are involving the patients and ask their "fresh eyes"! Also that any successful ideas can become viral in the entire NHS - do you have a plan how to spread the good ideas?
Guy Titley 18 May 2018
Thanks for the feedback Patricia. You have hit the nail on the head with your question about how we can measure savings.
The answer is...for the most part we can’t, unless the savings are in procurement where it’s easy to calculate.
The spirit of the campaign aligns with some other initiatives that are all about ‘the small things’. My hope is that people consciously making savings, or cutting waste, will know that they have done something worthwhile, even though it might not be measurable, and take some joy from that.
As far as providing examples, in our organisation we publicised a few, and invited suggestions for others, with the attractive proposition that any idea was a good one if it made sense. A prime example would be ‘turning off the lights’, using the same sort of common-sense criteria we all use when spending/saving our own money at home.
Patricia Mecinska 17 May 2018
I really like the simplicity of your concept and it's an approach that could be taken to scale easily. My question is, how you would evaluate whether the savings are being made and more importantly, reinvested? The posters speak to imagination but they could do with including some useful tips on 'how you can save NHS pound' i.e. 'switch the lights off and save #NHS pound. If we save a pound a week...' I hope that's helpful?
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