Modeshift STARS Healthcare Members scoop win at the Team Modeshift National Sustainable Travel Awards 2024!

Team Modeshift National Sustainable Travel Awards 2024!

We are proud of what we do here at Team Modeshift and what makes us really proud is celebrating your success. Big or small, we want to hear about achievements that demonstrate best practice, innovation, and can prove a positive impact on active and sustainable travel.

Each year we invite our Members and Partners to nominate initiatives they have been involved with, or that have been undertaken in their area.

On Tuesday 19 November at our prestigious Award Ceremony at the Royal Armouries, Leeds, we were thrilled to celebrate the success of all the award winners representing thirteen categories including some new categories introduced for 2024!

All Nominations had to meet specified criteria and the Awards process included strict timelines to allow our external judging panel the opportunity to review all entries and make their decision on our 2024 Award Winners and Finalists!

After the launch of our  Healthcare scheme in the the summer, we were thrilled to announce that three separate Healthcare Trusts scooped  wins at our award event! These wins represented three categories including the new Healthcare Project of the Year award!

Congratulations to these three amazing Modeshift STARS Healthcare Members

• Wellington Place, Leeds
• Foundry PCN / University of Sheffield Greener practice project 
• Inpatient Therapies team, Southampton

Award Category: Business Engagement Project of the Year  – Sponsored by Brightwayz

• Wellington Place, Leeds – Wellington Place (site), Hydrock Fore (Travel Plan Coordinator), MEPC (Developer), Leeds City Council (Local Authority)

Wellington Place is a mixed-use business estate located to the west of Leeds city centre. With an ever-growing community, comprising 80 businesses and a working population of over 16,000, Wellington Place is always looking for ways to reduce environmental impact and enrich the local community – from embracing zero-carbon technology to providing greener travel incentives.

Wellington Place has a travel team (Hydrock Fore) who are responsible for implementing the Master Travel Plan in consultation with Leeds City Council. Since it’s appointment in 2017, the travel team has worked closely with site management, the local authority and public transport operators to enhance the sustainable travel options to the site. As a result, Wellington Place employees can take advantage of fantastic on-site facilities, bike hire, discounted public transport offers, access to Park & Ride, greener working groups, travel events and travel planning advice to help them to make their journeys to site greener.

Award Category: Healthcare Engagement Project of the Year  – Sponsored by Bailey Street Furniture Group

• Foundry PCN / University of Sheffield Greener practice project – NHS Foundry PCN, Greener Practice, University of Sheffield Medical School

Foundry PCN worked with 3rd year medical students in Sheffield to gain Modeshift accreditation for 8 GP practices, across 10 sites. The students worked with Clinical leads & practice managers to understand the needs of over 200 employees in the network, creating a plan for other PCNs in the ICB work, feeding into the ICB Green Plan refresh.

The students also visited Sheffield cycling for all & met people with disabilities & health conditions & learnt how adapted cycles had helped them & their carers. They learnt about social factors & the importance of independence & movement that cannot be found in medical text books or placements on hospital wards.

In a short period of 6 weeks, we were able to get initial accreditation for all sites & have started the PCN on their sustainable travel journey. Foundry PCN has started its first travel surgery working with Better Points, to offer incentives for completion. Better points currently have a contract with Sheffield city council, this is providing a template for how projects can coordinate & amplify the work they are doing

Award Category: Excellence in Active Travel  – Sponsored by Westcotec

• Inpatient Therapies team, Southampton – Solent NHS Trust (soon to become Hampshire & IOW Healthcare NHS Trust)

A sustainable quality improvement initiative was carried out whereby patient Access Visits were completed almost exclusively by bicycle or e-bike, instead of cars, for a period of 12 months. Two occupational therapists participated in the improvement initiative,which resulted in a total of 647 miles travelled by cycle, reducing Trust mileage reimbursement costs and carbon emissions for those journeys by 67% and 95%, respectively.

Assessment of a patient’s home environment is often necessary and usually done by car. However, this has significant financial, ecological, and health costs to the Trust, its workforce and local communities. Use of active transport by NHS staff can provide many benefits in ensuring timely, efficient health care is delivered. It can also reduce costs to the individual and the Trust, minimise environmental impact, and promote community wellness.

The Aim of the project was to determine the impacts on cost and carbon emissions of replacing cars with bicycles for patient Access Visits in the community by 2 occupational therapists over a period of 12 months.

Congratulations to all our winners and finalists. Full details for each award can be found on our Awards page.