Tomorrow's earth, today's journey: Exploring pathways to sustainability
Market View
Produced by:
Interview with
Adam Toll
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR – SUSTAINABILITY & NET ZERO LEAD, EAST LONDON NHS FOUNDATION TRUST (ELFT)
Tomorrow's earth, today's journey: Exploring pathways to sustainability
Market View
Produced by:
Interview with
Adam Toll
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR – SUSTAINABILITY & NET ZERO LEAD, EAST LONDON NHS FOUNDATION TRUST (ELFT)
About Adam Toll
Adam Toll is the Assistant Director – Sustainability & Net Zero Lead at East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT), a position he has held since December 2021. With over 15 years of experience at the Trust, including his prior role as Energy & Sustainability Manager, Adam has been at the forefront of implementing environmental initiatives within the NHS. His deep expertise in energy management and sustainability has helped drive ELFT's commitment to net-zero carbon goals and environmental stewardship. Adam is passionate about embedding sustainable practices within healthcare operations to achieve lasting impact.
What are the primary challenges you face in implementing sustainability initiatives at ELFT?
One of the biggest challenges is undoubtedly funding. The NHS operates on annual budget cycles, and this makes long-term planning difficult. For us to implement sustainability projects, we have to present a very clear return on investment. Resources are stretched across many areas, including estates, facilities, and clinical leadership, which adds to the complexity. Getting buy-in from the executive team has been tough, particularly in areas like people and culture. Embedding sustainability throughout the organisation is a critical goal, but in a healthcare setting, clinical care naturally takes priority. However, we’ve made good progress recently through the annual planning process, and we’re moving forward more effectively now.
How do you balance sustainability with financial and operational goals at the Trust?
It’s a challenge, but having our Chief Financial Officer (CFO) as the executive lead on our Green Plan has been crucial. The alignment between sustainability and financial objectives helps integrate these goals into our broader financial viability programme. We’ve linked sustainability initiatives with our "Going Further, Going Together" programme, which focuses on both financial savings and sustainability.
Recently, we appointed a Net Zero Project Manager, who works closely with both the sustainability and financial teams. This cross-departmental collaboration ensures that sustainability is embedded into existing projects like capital maintenance, making the most of limited budgets. It’s about threading sustainability through every initiative, so we maximise the value of each investment.
One of the most impactful strategies has been integrating sustainability targets into the Trust's annual planning process.
What role does data play in driving sustainability decisions at ELFT?
Data is absolutely central to everything we do. Without data, we wouldn’t know where to direct our efforts or how to measure the success of our initiatives. We rely heavily on our energy bureau system, which provides half-hourly data on building energy use. This helps us identify inefficiencies—like when buildings are using energy outside their operating hours—and address them quickly. Additionally, we track a wide range of metrics, from mileage claims to recycling rates, and even the carbon footprint of our supply chain. Although we have room for improvement, particularly in real-time carbon monitoring, our current system allows us to measure and report on our progress biannually to the board. This data-driven approach ensures that we’re on the right path towards achieving our net-zero goals.
In the future, we hope to further enhance our data capabilities. Working closely with our new Project Management Office (PMO) team, we’re looking to improve our dashboarding tools, which will allow us to monitor trends and make more informed decisions. For instance, we’re starting to map patterns like overheating in our clinics, which helps us identify problem areas and take preventative measures. We don’t have the level of detail yet to track energy usage down to individual rooms, but we’re working towards that. The more granular the data, the better we can manage our resources and reduce our environmental impact.
What strategies have been most effective in getting leadership buy-in for sustainability efforts?
One of the most effective strategies has been integrating sustainability targets into the Trust’s annual planning cycle. By giving each department specific sustainability goals, ownership of these initiatives has shifted from the sustainability team to the wider organisation. This has empowered directors to drive their own sustainability projects, reducing the need for constant follow-up.
Another significant initiative has been the creation of our Climate Champions Network. This grassroots movement engages staff from all levels, giving them ownership of sustainability efforts at their respective sites. It’s been incredibly powerful in embedding sustainability throughout the Trust. For example, one of our climate champions at a local clinic identified ways to reduce energy consumption by adjusting heating schedules. Small changes like this, when multiplied across the Trust, can have a substantial impact.
We’ve linked sustainability initiatives with our 'Going Further, Going Together' programme, which focuses on both financial savings and sustainability.
How do you use digital tools to measure and manage your sustainability efforts?
We’ve implemented several digital tools to help us measure and manage our sustainability initiatives. Our energy bureau system is one of the key tools we use to track building emissions. It provides us with detailed data on energy consumption, down to a half-hourly basis, which helps us identify and rectify inefficiencies. Additionally, we have online portals for tracking recycling rates and monitoring our furniture reuse system, which has saved us both money and waste.
While we don’t yet have real-time carbon tracking, our digital tools allow us to make informed decisions and measure the impact of our sustainability initiatives. Moving forward, we plan to enhance our data capabilities, particularly by working with our new Project Management Office (PMO) team to improve our dashboards. This will allow us to better monitor trends and identify areas for improvement.
What emerging technologies or innovations are you most excited about in the context of sustainability at ELFT?
I’m particularly excited about the potential for artificial intelligence (AI) to help us manage resource limitations. AI could assist in automating some of our processes, such as creating funding submissions, which are often a time-consuming task. Additionally, I’m interested in exploring carbon capture technologies, although they may be a bit “pie in the sky” at this point. With the growing awareness that climate change is inevitable, carbon capture could play a role in reducing our environmental impact in the future. Exploring these emerging technologies will be crucial as we continue to pursue our sustainability and net-zero goals.
Data is absolutely central to everything we do. Without data, we wouldn’t know where to direct our efforts or how to measure the success of our initiatives.
About East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT)
East London NHS Foundation Trust (ELFT) is a leading healthcare provider serving the diverse populations of East London and beyond. Renowned for its focus on mental health, community health, and primary care services, ELFT has also established itself as a pioneer in sustainability within the NHS. Through its commitment to innovation and quality care, the Trust works to improve the health and wellbeing of its communities while actively pursuing environmental goals, including reducing its carbon footprint and promoting sustainable healthcare solutions.
