The winner of our first ever ‘Green Funding Call’ has been announced as Dominika Dabrowska with her project ‘Bringing Eco-Friendly anaesthesia to CW – how to capture and recycle anaesthetic gases,’ which proposes the launch of a new pilot to allow operating rooms to capture 99% of anaesthetic gases, therefore reducing carbon footprint.

As part of our CW Innovation programme, our ‘Green Funding Call’ awards grants of up to £20,000 to help deliver the Trust’s Sustainability Plan. All finalists pitched their ideas in a ‘Dragon’s Den’ style virtual event, addressing a variety of ‘Green’ issues from the reduction in waste to longer term viability and deliverability.

Daniel Stubbins was announced as a runner-up with his project ‘Introduction of pre-filled syringes (PFSs) of emergency drugs in anaesthesia’, which prevents unused vials being thrown away, substantially reducing waste.  Angela Timm and Maxim Horwitz were also runners-up with their ‘Theatre waste stream project’, which involves the streamlining of Trust policy to make the correct waste bins more readily available for staff so that recycling is increased across departments.

Thanks to all of our finalists in the funding call including:

• Lee Taylor and Gemma Brown – ‘Jump Green Rewards digital engagement platform’, which introduces ‘Green Rewards’ where staff can complete sustainable actions in exchange for points and physical rewards. The aim is to gamify behaviour change to improve sustainability at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust as well as in the personal lives of staff.
• Natalie Nunes – ‘Handsfree Automated Ultrasound Probe Disinfection’, involving the purchase of the Trophon machine which would last longer than the current system, costs less to run and all the unit parts are 90% recyclable.

All five finalists presented their innovative proposals to a highly respected judging panel including:

• Virginia Massaro – Chief Financial Officer, Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• Neelam Patel – CEO, MedCity
• Chris Chaney – CEO, CW+

Find out more about our CW Innovation programme here.