NHS invests in new eco vehicles
NEW wheels are set to take health workers at least twice as far across the north.
NHS Highland has bought seven new electric vehicles to help workers reach communities across the region.
Head of procurement and logistics, Neil Stewart, said the BMW i3 Range Extender vehicles represent a real effort by the health board to reduce its carbon fooptrint.
"The new cars are more advanced and have a far more usable range than our two electric vehicles they are replacing," he said.
"The previous electric vehicles could manage around 40-60 miles on a charge, whereas the new cars can travel approximately 120 miles on a charge before a small petrol engine extends the range to between 180 and 205 miles.
"The aim of bringing these cars into our fleet is to fully test the practicality of deploying electric vehicles for use across our board area.
"Based on our assessment of daily vehicle usage, we believe we can utilise these as fully as the five diesel models they replace and much more than the existing electric vehicles."
Two of the cars will be stationed at Raigmore Hospital for use by midwives and two will be based at Nairn Town and County Hospital with another two at Caithness General Hospital and the remaining vehcile in Fort William.
Charging points have been recently installed at each location using the vehicles.
Mr Stewart continued: "The cars are built out of carbon fibre reinforced plastic, which is very light and strong, with the interior largely created from recycled materials. We believe that these cars are a long-term investment which will improve the ability for our health and social care professionals to cover some of the most remote and rural locations in our board area.
"Globally, health care is a major cause of pollutants and carbon emissions and there is a responsibility to reduce this. As a board we are committed to significantly reduce our carbon footprint yet continue to deliver high-quality health and social care services. These vehicles will play a key role in helping us achieve both of these aims."
