Dorset-based NHS organisations launch gamified staff behaviour change scheme on road to net-zero

Image: Jump / Alison Walters

Called ‘EcoEarn’, the scheme will be delivered using a version of Greener Rewards’ ‘Jump’ platform. Jump provides a digital website and app whereby staff can log in and record the actions they take each day to reduce emissions, energy use, water and waste at work and at home. Actions include using reusable coffee cups and water bottles, walking and cycling to work and turning off lights and appliances that are not in use.

By logging actions, staff receive ‘Green Points’. This means that individuals and teams can compete against each other to see who can earn the most points. Employers can then offer to convert points into donations to charity or to vouchers. Under EcoEarn, the individuals with the most points will win vouchers to spend at local, sustainability-focused retailers.

University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust, Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, The Dorset Healthcare University NHS Foundation Trust, NHS Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group and the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust are all participating in EcoEarn. Collectively, they employ more than 24,000 staff, all of whom will be invited to take part this month.

“We are pleased to have launched the first collaborative Integrated Care System sustainability programme of its kind, which will assist us all as a group of Dorset healthcare organisations to move cohesively towards our goal of net-zero,” said the University Hospitals Dorset  Foundation Trust’s sustainability and carbon manager Stuart Lane.

“The EcoEarn programme is already causing a buzz amongst University Hospitals Dorset staff and we’re excited to start competing for Green Points.”

The UK Government’s NHS plan includes a 2045 net-zero target for the Service as a whole and a 2040 net-zero target for NHS England specifically.  Some NHS trusts are operating in cities, towns and regions that will compel them to reach net-zero sooner. Dorset, however, is targeting net-zero by 2050 at present, in line with the national target. The Council has stated that it “does not appear overly challenging” to reach net-zero by 2050 while staying on a 1.5C-aligned temperature pathway, but that “a considerable effort” will be needed to cut emissions from heat and transport in particular.

As well as reducing the environmental impact of the participating organisations, EcoEarn is likely to bring about cost savings. Green Rewards states that the average organisation using Jump in 2021 avoided £87,150 in overhead costs.

Other public sector organisations using Jump include Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, University College London Hospitals, Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust.

edie’s recent Barometer survey, which was hosted online in April and taken by 256 professionals, found that staff behaviour change programmes are the most popular priority area for business investments to reduce emissions in 2022. More than two-thirds (67%) of respondents said they class delivering staff behaviour change initiatives that reduce emissions,  energy use and/or waste as either ‘very important’ or ‘extremely important’ for 2022. The full results of the Barometer will be published in a new edie report, sponsored by Centrica Business Solutions, shortly.