District nurses going green with new cars

District nurses going green with new cars

20 July 2022

DISTRICT nurses are doing their bit for the environment by going green and have clocked up a Northern Ireland first in the process.

South Eastern Trust staff in the Down area are visiting clients in a fleet of five new electric cars as a result of a near £3m investment by the organisation’s transport department.

The fleet of electric cars for community-based nursing staff is a first within a health and social care trust in the province. 

Keys to the new vehicles were handed over last week with the health trust’s transport manager, Richard Walker, presenting the new vehicles to district nurse Cathy Gracey and community staff nurse Lisa Ross. 

The zero emission Vauxhall Corsas will be predominately used within the Downpatrick area by the district nursing team. 

The health trust’s assistant director for community health care services, Veronica Cleland, said the  introduction of the new vehicle fleet is very much welcomed and a necessary addition to the district nursing Team, particularly with the rise in the cost of living, which is having a great impact on community staff. 

“The vehicles will assist our community colleagues to meet the clinical needs of our vulnerable patients in the local community,” she explained.

“I would like to thank the transport team as electric vehicles will reduce expenditure and also importantly our carbon footprint across the trust.”

The organisation’s transport manager, Richard Walker, said it is vital that the health trust’s fleet is kept up-to-date and that the organisation has the most modern and fuel efficient vehicles. 

He added: “There are plans to expand this pilot project later this year. Our Transport team travelled an impressive 1,662,000 miles during 2021/2022, so we felt it was appropriate to add these zero admission vehicles to our ever growing fleet.”