Hospital staff across Dorset will not only be able to save on motoring costs in the future, they will be doing their best to reduce carbon emissions.

University Hospitals Dorset (UHD), Dorset County Hospital and Dorset Healthcare have come together to launch Dorset NHS Liftshare to reduce single occupancy commutes to and from the hospitals and other sites.

The programme is accessible to over 19,000 staff, making a positive contribution to the NHS’s sustainability targets.

Stuart Lane, sustainability and carbon manager for UHD, said: “We in the NHS already support and prioritise more traditional ‘green travel’, such as cycling, walking and public transport. However for some in more rural areas or with family commitments, car travel is currently their only practical mode of travel, so we had to think differently.”

Staff using Liftshare can access the system online and are partnered up with people on similar commuter routes. They are then given priority parking on the various sites.

Julie Furnell, managing director of Liftshare Group, said: “Staff commuting within England’s NHS are responsible for over a million tonnes of CO2 emissions every year. This is a great opportunity to work in partnership across Dorset and for NHS staff to have a positive impact on the environment.”

Dorset NHS Liftshare follows the launch of the ‘EcoEarn’ app, another sustainability project in partnership across Dorset trusts. The app encourages and rewards sustainable behaviour at work and home in the areas of energy saving, sustainable travel, health and wellbeing and waste reduction.