In 2018, one of the largest acute trusts in the UK formed when two NHS trusts in Manchester merged to create Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT). Consequently the trust now sees over two million visitors every year and employs over 20,000 staff, many of which travel to the trust using the city’s busy roads.
This reliance by many staff and visitors on road transport has contributed to the organisation’s scope 3 carbon emissions. Scope 3 emissions are a consequence of the activities of a company but occur from sources not owned or controlled by the company such as staff travel and procurement.
The merger of the two trusts posed several challenges for the sustainable travel programme, partly due to the increased requirements for staff to travel between sites. Other challenges included changes in staff’s travel behaviours, availability of cycling facilities and public transport provision to some of the sites.
