Barnsley Hospital has been awarded the Carbon Trust Standard after taking action on climate change by measuring, managing and reducing its carbon emissions by 3.9%.

The Carbon Trust Standard recognises organisations for real carbon reduction. Based on a rigorous, independent assessment, it certifies that organisations have measured, managed and reduced their carbon emissions across their own operations, and are committed to reducing them year on year.

Mick Bailey, Lead for reducing carbon emissions, told the Hospital's official website: “We’re delighted to have achieved the Carbon Trust Standard as it is a great way of showing that we are on the front foot when it comes to carbon management best practices.

"It also boosts our reputation, and gives us an opportunity to communicate our environmental credentials with integrity to our patients, staff and stakeholders.

“Cutting carbon is a priority for Barnsley Hospital and an essential part of our management plan. We have already cut our carbon emissions by 3.9 % as part of the initiative and are committed to reducing our emissions by 10% by 2015.

"Going through the assessment process to achieve the Carbon Trust Standard helped us to not only quantify our footprint, but also benchmark our performance and identify areas for improvement bringing tangible and significant cost savings across our operations.

"In the current climate it’s essential that we are taking steps to improve energy efficiency and reduce carbon emissions to save us money and improve our environmental performance which will ultimately benefit the people of Barnsley and our patients.”

• In November Barnsley Hospital came top of the Environment Agency’s Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) Performance League Table. It is the only hospital in the North of England set up to monitor 100% of its electricity using Automatic Meter Reading (AMR), and this helped to earn it the Carbon Trust Standard award.