North East Ambulance Service
The North East Ambulance Service has qualified for funding from the £700 million Aquafund® grant. They join a growing number of NHS Trusts and organisations that have taken advantage of the funding which converts water savings into financial savings without the need for a budget.
This means lower water bills for the North East Ambulance Service and greater environmental benefits, enabling them to focus on their core aim – promoting the wellbeing of their patients.
Emergency services throughout the North East
The North East Ambulance Service NHS Trust (NEAS) is responsible for providing services in the counties of Tyne & Wear, Northumberland and County Durham. Their ‘patch’ covers an area of 3230 square miles – and on a daily basis they deal with 600 emergency calls and 300 GP urgent calls.
The NHS Trust sets the operational standards for NEAS including safety, patient focus, public health and cost effectiveness.
Cost-effectiveness – a key requirement
As part of their commitment to cost-effectiveness, NEAS was looking at ways in which they could reduce their water consumption across their 63 Trust locations and 51 ambulance stations.
They called on the services of ADSM, the water management specialists, and signed up for their AquaFund® grant scheme which provided the money, the resources and the expertise to make water efficiencies and reduce water expenditure across all of the NEAS properties across three counties.
In-depth site surveys
ADSM sent in their engineering experts to undertake comprehensive water surveys on the Trust sites, providing detailed technical, operational, financial and environmental evaluations.
Based on the results of the surveys, advanced water-saving technologies were installed where they would have most impact.
A baseline for water usage was then determined to enable assessment of future consumption and to ensure that efficiencies were maintained.
AquaFund® water bureau verifies NEAS bills, optimises tariffs
All NEAS water supplier bills were routed through the AquaFund® water bureau where they were checked for accuracy before being approved for payment.
The AquaFund® scheme also looked at the water supplier tariffs and negotiated with the water supplier to optimise their rate.
Early detection of increased water usage and leaks
One of the key features of the AquaFund® scheme is the water data logging and consumption analysis. If there are any unexpected increases in water usage on any of the Trust sites, these are immediately flagged and investigated. If a leak or other anomaly is detected, it is dealt with promptly to ensure minimum water wastage.
Detailed monthly reports for water insights
NEAS now has full visibility over its water usage across its many sites
In-depth monthly reporting provided by AquaFund® helps NEAS to keep track of the water efficiencies it has made and quantify them in m3 and cash savings, right down to each individual water meter, if required.
This level of information allows better insight and increased control over water usage and demonstrates how NEAS’s water efficiency and environmental targets continue to be met.
12%
