Around 20 trusts ‘still without electric vehicle charging points’

Three said they were planning to start installing EV charging points before the end of the year, while around a dozen more said they were planning to or were exploring the option. Four cited a lack of capital funds or the cost of installation.

Trusts do not have a target for EV charging points mandated but are required to update progress through the estates returns information collection data return. 

The shift towards EV charging points is also in line with the NHS’s green agenda, with the health service targeting to be net zero for emissions it can control by 2040, and for all related emissions, including from patient, visitor and staff travel, by 2045.

HSJ contacted all 41 trusts which said they did not have EV charging points available onsite in the latest ERIC data for 2021-22.

Eighteen said this was still the case, while six did not respond with an update. The rest said they had installed EV charging points across their sites since the data collection period ended. 

There has been a surge in the number of EV charging points installed across trusts in recent years. 

The overall figure doubled in the two years to 2021 to reach nearly 2,400, according to the ERIC data. It is not clear how many EV points there are currently, but trusts have continued to install them since.

Several trusts without any charging points said they did not currently have the right infrastructure to support this, which would require significant investment to install.

Others highlighted an ageing estate which was having to take priority.

University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay FT is one of the trusts still without charging points. Its estates and facilities director, David Sanderson, said the trust was “actively looking” at charging solutions but some sites do not have the infrastructure, such as enough electrical capacity to support charging alongside core services.

Imperial College Healthcare Trust does not have any charging points at St Mary’s Hospital. Head of facilities Andrew Murray said the trust had to “prioritise demands on our ageing electricity infrastructure for operational uses”. Its other two sites, Hammersmith and Charing Cross, have some local authority EV charging points onsite but are currently not in operation, he said. 

Lewisham and Greenwich Trust said it would start putting in EV charging points this year. A trust statement said the delay until now was mainly due to financial constraints given “other urgent needs”.

Wirral University Teaching Hospital said: “Whilst we have plans to install electric charging points, unfortunately due to our limited capital resource and an aging estate, we have not yet been able to prioritise these plans.”

Leicester Partnership Trust said it had also been held back by funding. “We have to balance our desire to provide charge points against the significant costs of installation, as some of our sites do not currently have a power infrastructure where required.”

Some mental health trusts said the main sites were owned or operated by other organisations, which was limiting what they could do to install EV charging points on the land they use.