North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust has been granted more than £13m to make a wide range of improvements to the University Hospital of Hartlepool.

The works will help the trust achieve its goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040.

The government funding will help improve the heating, ventilation, air-conditioning, and lighting across the site.

Neil Atkinson, managing director of the trust, said: “This work will mean our Hartlepool site remains at the forefront of healthcare for many years to come.

“It is fantastic news for staff and patients and the wider community as we continue to strive to provide the very-best care to all.

“Healthcare continues to evolve at a rapid rate and it is vital that we make these improvements so we continue to lead the way.

“It is also important as a key community partner and one of the largest employers in the region to play our part in helping reduce our carbon emissions and the effects of climate change on the environment.

“This is reflected in improvements we have made across our buildings and in the way we work and care for patients.”

The works will include upgrading the hospital’s air handling unit, LED lighting, and solar panels.

Other interventions will include a site-wide low-temperature hot water heating ring main, upgrades to plant rooms, chilled water upgrades, and additional metering.

It will also include a new heat pump system, which gets energy from groundwater stored in an aquifer – works which will involve drilling six boreholes to a depth of around 150m into the ground.

The works will be led by NTH Solutions, a subsidiary of North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust, over the course of two years.

Steve Taylor, assistant director of estates and capital at NTH Solutions, said: “This works is a fantastic opportunity to achieve significant annual energy and carbon savings at the Hartlepool site.

“It will be a cost-efficient, sustainable way to help deliver on one of the organisation’s key priorities to be net zero by 2040.

“We are investing in the latest state-of-the-art ways to reduce our carbon emissions and allow staff to deliver the very best care to patients.”

The funding has been approved by Salix, an organisation who administer funds on behalf of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.