The NHS in Gwent is paying special heed to the issue of increasing carbon footprint and it aims to reduce it by one fifth in coming five years, a step which will definitely save millions of pounds. The authorities are focusing on formulating fresh innovative policies, which can help in saving a lot of energy.

According to a research, in the year 2009-10, carbon footprint generated by NHS was approximately 40,000 tons, which is the exactly the consumption of a small town of 6,500 three-bed houses.

The NHS is officially targeting to reduce carbon footprints by 15% and they plan to do it by formulating different projects like spreading awareness about the importance of the issue among NHS staff.

Aneurin Bevan Health Board's new carbon management strategy is encouraging the installation of energy saving technology. They suggest rooftop photovoltaic cells as a renewable energy source, which can be easily installed on the rooftops of the hospitals and other official buildings.

Dr. Caroline Jessel, Clinical Governance GP Lead, suggests putting nurses on the frontline of this initiative, as they are mostly involved with handling equipments and other things.

Tim Ballard, Sustainability Lead at the RCGP, said: "Nobody actually knows what the average carbon footprint is for GP surgery. We are currently working on an assessment tool which enables practices to measure their carbon footprint which is currently being piloted in West Berkshire".