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Coventry and Warwickshire ICB Green Team Competition 2026
29 September 2026
In September 2026, NHS Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care Board presented their Green Team Competition Showcase in partnership with the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare. The event celebrated clinical teams across the system working to embed sustainability into everyday practice.
The Green Team Competition is a clinical leadership and engagement programme for NHS organisations that want to improve the sustainability of their services. Launched in January 2026, the programme saw CSH support six clinical teams from George Eliot Hospital (GEH), University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW), South Warwickshire University NHS Foundation Trust (SWFT) and Coventry and Warwickshire Partnership NHS Trust (CWPT). The teams identified, planned, implemented and measured quality improvement projects using the Sustainability in Quality Improvement (SusQI) methodology.
Project support and implementation
CSH worked directly with six clinical teams across Coventry and Warwickshire ICB to help them deliver greener, higher-value care using the Sustainability in Quality Improvement (SusQI) methodology. Teams received practical mentoring and used the sustainable value equation to find high-impact improvement ideas. They then planned, implemented and measured initiatives that deliver meaningful, measurable change in line with wider sustainability goals.
Showcase Event
At the Showcase event on 11 September 2026, the teams presented their projects to fellow teams, a judging panel and a wider audience from across the ICB. Presentations covered anticipated savings and opportunities to scale and spread.
The judging panel was:
- Cath Richards, SusQI Programme Lead – Academy and Courses, CSH
- Dr Cat Roberts, Clinical Director for UEC, Neighbourhood Health and Community, NHS Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB Cluster
- Jo Smith, Estates and Sustainability Lead, NHS Coventry and Warwickshire ICB
Jo Smith, Estates and Sustainability Lead, NHS Coventry and Warwickshire ICB
The impact
Together, the projects are forecast to deliver £547,197 in annual value and cut carbon emissions by 46,538 kgCO₂e each year. That figure is made up of £87,732 cash releasing, £309,465 in financial efficiencies and £150,000 revenue potential.
That’s the environmental equivalent of:
- Driving 138,506 miles in an average car
- Completing 119 return journeys between Coventry and John O’Groats
- The annual carbon absorption of 1,861 mature trees
Beyond the figures, the programme has helped foster a growing culture of sustainability within clinical teams, inspiring more thoughtful, efficient and person-centred approaches to delivering care.
Dr Cat Roberts, Clinical Director for UEC, Neighbourhood Health and Community, NHS Coventry, Warwickshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire ICB Cluster
These early achievements highlight how locally driven, well-supported initiatives can contribute to the NHS’s net zero ambitions while enhancing patient outcomes and streamlining the way services are delivered.
Winners
Congratulations to the winning team, the GEH Neonatal Team, led by Maria Bull, Natalie Madden, Zoe Bush and Amy Shuttleworth.
The team replaced single-use disposable teats and bottles with standardised, evidence-based reusable slow-flow feeding systems. The change improves feeding safety for premature and medically vulnerable babies while reducing waste and cost. The practice is now being adopted by the other neonatal units at UHCW and Warwick.
“It was so motivating to work collectively as a team to utilise Speech and Language Therapy best practice… It is even more pleasing to know that we can share the success and roll out the QIP to the other neonatal units at UHCW and Warwick.”
Natalie Madden, Advanced Neonatal Speech and Language Therapist, winning team
Highly Commended
Well done to the UHCW Urology Team, led by Mercy Momoh, for their One-Stop Haematuria Clinic and decarbonised flexible cystoscopy tray. The team created a more efficient, patient-centred pathway that reduced the need for multiple hospital visits. It delivered significant carbon and financial savings, faster diagnosis and valuable staff time efficiencies.
“This project shows that by working together, we can deliver more sustainable healthcare while improving patient experience, reducing waste, and creating lasting positive change.”
Mercy Momoh, Assistant Urology Practitioner, UHCW, highly commended team
Green Team Competition projects
Read the full Impact Report here or view the project summaries below.
1. Neonatal Team, GEH – Removal of Single-Use Disposable Teats and Bottles (Winners)
Team members: Maria Bull, Natalie Madden, Zoe Bush and Amy Shuttleworth
Setting / patient group: Premature and medically vulnerable babies on the GEH neonatal unit.
Summary
The team aimed to improve feeding safety and cut waste and costs by 50%. They did this by replacing single-use disposable teats and bottles with reusable slow-flow feeding systems. Standardised reusable bottles and teats were introduced across the GEH neonatal unit. Both remaining neonatal units in the Trust are now adopting the practice.
Outcomes
Clinical benefits include safer, evidence-based slow-flow teats and improved feeding experiences for babies. The change also reduces the risk of parents reusing single-use teats after discharge. Environmental savings total 864 kgCO₂e per year, equivalent to driving 2,571 miles in an average car. Financial savings are £4,790 per year (cash releasing).
Social outcomes include increased staff knowledge of best practice and improved parental confidence and involvement in feeding and sterilising. Staff engagement also strengthened through alignment with sustainability goals.
2. Urology Team, UHCW – One-Stop Haematuria Clinic and Decarbonising the Flexible Cystoscopy Tray (Highly Commended)
Team members: Mercy Momoh, Assistant Urology Practitioner, UHCW
Setting / patient group: Patients on the haematuria pathway at UHCW.
Summary
The team introduced a One-Stop Haematuria Clinic and adopted more sustainable flexible cystoscopy practices. The aim was to reduce carbon emissions, waste and unnecessary hospital visits. The result was a more efficient, patient-centred and sustainable haematuria pathway.
Outcomes
Clinical benefits include faster diagnosis and improved compliance with cancer waiting standards. DNA rates fell from 8% to 2%, and clinical safety was maintained with no increase in complications. Environmental savings total 7,098 kgCO₂e per year, equivalent to driving 19,400 miles in an average car. Financial savings are £287,344 per year, made up of £2,334 cash releasing and £285,000 in staff financial efficiencies.
Social outcomes include reduced travel, costs, disruption and anxiety for patients and carers. Staff time is released for higher-value activities.
3. Continence Team, SWFT – Transition to Washable Continence Products
Team members: Jo Chapman, Clinical Lead; Louise Smith, Bladder and Bowel Specialist Nurse; Abdul Ghafoor, Project Manager; Sallie Green, Operational Lead
Setting / patient group: Patients living at home within the SWFT Bladder and Bowel Service who are prescribed disposable continence products.
Summary
Washable continence underwear was introduced as a first-choice option for clinically suitable patients. The redesigned pathway included patient engagement events, product demonstrations, clinical assessment, personalised fitting, education on use and laundering, and structured follow-up reviews.
Outcomes
Existing clinical safety was maintained and self-management increased. Environmental savings total 17,652 kgCO₂e per year, with financial savings of £20,415 per year (cash releasing).
Social outcomes include improved dignity and confidence, greater patient choice and empowerment, and 353 tonnes of annual household waste avoided.
4. ITU Team, UHCW – Critical Care Medicines Optimisation: IV to Enteral Switching and Continuous Tazocin Dosing
Team members: Dr Katherine Laver, Dr Ed Smith, Dr Anthony Harding, Dr Arusa Latif, Hannah Nasol, Dr Kira Ford-Busson, Dr Shreya Srikumar, Suhail Patel and Carum Kooner.
Setting / patient group: Critically ill adult patients receiving IV medications and antibiotic therapy in the General Critical Care and Cardiothoracic Critical Care units at UHCW.
Summary
The team introduced two initiatives. The first switched IV paracetamol, phosphate and proton pump inhibitors to enteral alternatives where clinically appropriate. The second replaced intermittent Tazocin dosing with continuous infusions, which use fewer consumables and reduce waste.
Outcomes
Clinical benefits include better medicines optimisation, reduced IV therapy and unnecessary fluid, and potentially reduced sepsis mortality. Environmental savings total 3,082 kgCO₂e per year, with financial savings of £57,239 per year (cash releasing), plus unquantified staff financial efficiencies.
Social outcomes include reduced workload, improved staff engagement and sustainable culture change.
5. Physiotherapy Team, SWFT – One-Off Assessment with Digital Follow-Up for Rotator Cuff Related Shoulder Pain (RCRSP)
Team members: David Whitfield, Andre Serra and Sarah Brian
Setting / patient group: Patients with rotator cuff related shoulder pain in musculoskeletal physiotherapy, SWFT.
Summary
The team replaced routine face-to-face follow-up with a one-off assessment followed by digital follow-up for patients with RCRSP.
Outcomes
No negative patient outcomes were identified. The change releases 750 new patient appointments per year and could reduce referral-to-treatment times. Environmental savings total 15,922 kgCO₂e per year. Financial outcomes include £20,034 in staff financial efficiencies, £150,000 revenue potential and £25 cash releasing.
Social outcomes include £32,000 in avoided patient travel costs, reduced lost earnings and reduced disruption to patients’ and carers’ daily lives. Staff time is also redirected to higher-value work.
6. Learning Disabilities Team, CWPT – Strengthening Mental Health Services Through Smarter Procurement
Team members: Led by Claire Stickels, Trainee Advanced Clinical Practitioner at Brooklands Hospital, with Laura Smith, Lead Improvement Coach for CWPT, supported by the Physical Health Team, nursing staff, administrative teams and operational colleagues across Brooklands Hospital
Setting / patient group: Brooklands Hospital, CWPT.
Summary
A review of clinical stock management found wide variation in how wards ordered, stored and managed supplies. Essential items were sometimes unavailable, while other areas held excess, expired and duplicated stock. The team introduced a centralised, standardised stock management system across 7 units at Brooklands Hospital, tested using PDSA cycles.
Outcomes
Safe and effective care was maintained, with potential improvements in timely care delivery and reduced health inequalities for people with learning disabilities. Environmental savings total 1,920 kgCO₂e per year. Financial savings are £7,360 per year, made up of £2,929 cash releasing and £4,431 in staff financial efficiencies.
Social outcomes include staff time efficiencies, stronger collaboration across teams and improved accountability.
