THE Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust launched a new campaign today (Monday January 22) to help staff save energy and minimise waste at work.

The environmental campaign is called Making a World of Difference and has been devised by the Cornwall HNS Hotel and Estates Support Services (CHESS). The Trust is seeking pledges from individuals and departments to make a contribution towards reducing the hospital's environmental impact.

Driving force behind the campaign, Mark Summers, said: "To begin with we can all make some very small and in all honesty very obvious changes. Simply switching off a computer at the end of the day, rather than leaving it on standby, not only reduces our power needs but can also save up to £50 per computer each year - we can all do that at home, too. As we really get on top of those simple measures we can then look to reinvest financial savings into longer term sustainable energy sources such as wind turbines and combined heat and power plants."

The Cornwall Energy Efficiency Advice Centre is supporting the launch of the campaign with an advice session in the main entrance at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro today.

The Advice team will be on hand to give information to staff, patients and visitors on saving energy at work and at home, finding grants to get your home insulated, changing fuel supplier, and much more, in what will be the first of a series of events.

Julia Tibbett, from Cornwall Energy Plus, said: "We are delighted to be linking in with the NHS campaign. We know that people who struggle with their energy bills are often those with medical problems that can be made worse by poor heating. We want to help them to use their energy more efficiently and reduce the associated costs and make hospital staff aware that they can refer patients to us. Everyone visiting our stand on Monday will receive a free low energy light bulb, too!"

The campaign has Board level support and new chief executive, John Watkinson, was the first to make a departmental pledge when he joined the Trust this month.

Director of nursing, Sharon Terry said: "This campaign is not primarily about saving money, although that may ultimately be a spin off. Our hospitals are here to care for people today, so it makes sense that we should be caring about all of our futures too. Everyone's awareness of their carbon footprint' is growing rapidly and reducing the environmental impact of our organisation is something we can all contribute to."

On Monday Mark is hoping to encourage lots of staff to sign personal pledges and to consider becoming an environmental representative for their ward or department. "We're hoping to get a team of about 50 staff across the Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust who are keen to lead on environmental issues in their area of work and be the first point of contact for new initiatives. It is a subject which is increasingly on all our minds and if we work together to do our bit, I'm sure we can contribute to a healthier future for our environment," said Mark.