Sustainability review – Environment

Netcare is committed to an increased focus on the Group's environmental impact and will also be identifying ways in which to respond to expected health impacts of global climate change and be part of formulating solutions.

Netcare's environment reporting focuses on the South African hospital division as it is the division with the most significant environmental impact. The UK operations' environmental impacts have not been reported on in this year's report but plans are in place to ensure that future environmental reporting includes this business.

South Africa

Energy use

Energy used is primarily in the form of electricity. Diesel is used for emergency electricity generation and natural gas used to fire steam boilers.

A solar water heating system has been installed at Netcare Rehabilitation Hospital and its long-term performance is being evaluated. However, in terms of the energy consumed by the South African business over the year, the savings from this as a percentage of overall consumption is still negligible.

The CO₂ emissions were calculated using the standard conversion factor of the energy type used. This does not include indirect energy consumed or the energy consumed by divisions outside the hospital division, such as Netcare 911. The increase in CO₂ emissions is largely attributable to the need for emergency electricity generation.

All operational incineration at Netcare hospitals has ceased. Emission from electricity generation is judged to be insignificant although an increasing trend is experienced due to large scale power outages. Natural gas is consumed in most boiler systems with the exception of two facilities, and is judged to have insignificant particulate emission.

Water consumption

Water consumption within the hospital division increased marginally from 1 613 800 kL in 2006 to 1 682 000 kL in 2007. The amount of cooling water used in the hospitals is judged to be insignificant in relation to the total water usage, as most cooling systems use direct refrigerant gas expansion technology. The water usage was calculated from the utility account received by each facility.

Waste management

Waste generated by Netcare consists mainly of medical and hazardous waste. At present, waste that is sent to landfills is not measured.

Waste incinerated increased by 9,8% from 3 055 tons in 2006 to 3 354 tons in 2007 and is mainly due to increased activity. Hazardous waste generated by operations decreased in 2007 from 4 753 kg in 2006 to 3 716 kg. This decrease is due to tight management controls that were put into place to manage hazardous waste generation.

Although the disposal of medical waste has been contracted out to a third party, Netcare does not delegate its responsibility for proper disposal. The stringent contractor selection process included a focus on their processes to ensure that medical waste is dealt with appropriately.

United Kingdom

GHG has established a Carbon Management Team in collaboration with the Carbon Trust, with the objective of establishing GHG’s carbon footprint and ways to reduce it. A pilot programme was launched at The BMI Habour Hospital, which focuses on recycling, utilities savings and medical waste disposal audits. The project has successfully improved control, reduced clinical waste and increased efficiency of utilities.