Corporate social responsibility is about being aware of the impact our work has on people and the environment we work in and taking steps to reduce any negative effects.

NHS London has overall responsibility for the impact of NHS activities on London and Londoners. That includes our patients, the public, our partners and stakeholders, as well as the environment.

Our responsibility

NHS London has a corporate social responsibility to address social, economic and environmental challenges and encourage other organisations to do the same.

• The NHS has the largest estate portfolio in London. We need to ensure that its managed properly to avoid any detrimental environmental impact.
• The NHS in London is also one of the biggest employers with over 200,000 employees and therefore has a significant social and economic impact in London.

What are we doing?

At NHS London were already working in environmentally friendly ways to reduce the impact we have on the environment, reduce waste and save the energy we use across our offices.

• We won the Green IT award in 2007 for our use of thin client computer systems which use significantly less energy than the conventional desktop.
• We recycle everything we can, including all paper, food and plastics and all old ICT equipment and fluorescent tubing.
• Our Southside office has compartmentalised lighting that operates on a sensor basis.

Were always looking for other ways we can build on this good practice.

Were trying to take steps to improve the quality of life for our employees as well as our patients and the London community at large.

As with any organisation NHS London can always do more to get things right. Getting feedback helps us to adapt and improve our corporate behaviour. We want to be the best corporate citizen we can and have all of these systems and processes in place:

• Complaints system
• Freedom of Information (FOI) request response service
• Public board meetings
• Robust governance
• Media office service
• General enquiries facility
• Organisational values
• Carbon reduction regional enabling strategy

Where issues or complaints are raised NHS London's procedures for dealing with them are used to acknowledge, explain and where possible remedy the situation.

Strategic Approach to achieving Carbon Reduction for the NHS in London - An enabling strategy

This strategy was developed jointly for the NHS in London by the Carbon Reduction Steering Group, which includes regional and local government as well as NHS partners, and representatives from the Carbon Reduction Leads Network.

The NHS in London's strategy has been developed as an enabling strategy in order to support NHS organisations in meeting emission reduction targets. Its focus is where regional or cross-sector working can best support Trust's local activity and highlights where the NHS can play a role in promoting London as a low carbon world city. It sets out the case for action by the health sector and highlights the challenges faced by NHS organisations in meeting reduction obligations as well as further drivers for change such as health co-benefits, reputation and support for London as a low carbon city and the increasing cost of carbon.

Climate change adaptation

Evidence shows that our climate is changing and projections show that London will experience warmer, wetter winters and hotter, drier summers. The NHS needs to prepare for the substantial changes to our climate that are already unavoidable – to adapt to the impacts of a changing environmental, social and financial climate. Dealing with the consequences of climate change is known as ‘adaptation' and all NHS organisations are required to carry out climate change risk assessments and develop plans to mitigate that risk. A report commissioned by the London Climate Change Partnership, ‘London's Changing Climate' identifies some of those risks to health and social care and identifies opportunities and recommendations to enable NHS organisations to become as resilient as possible to the effects of climate change.