NHS Fife Launches New Eco-Friendly Car Club Programme

NHS Fife is teaming up with rental firm Enterprise Car Club to launch an exciting new programme which allows the Board’s staff to access brand new, eco-friendly vehicles for their business travel.

An ever greater balance of healthcare services in Fife is provided in its communities by its skilled and dedicated workforce of clinicians and support staff. In order to provide these vital services, staff often travel between patients in their own personal cars which increases wear and tear on their own vehicles and means they have to spend considerable time reclaiming any expenses they incur.

From 17 October 2017, NHS Fife staff will instead be able to access brand new, eco-friendly vehicles from nine healthcare sites across Fife using Enterprise Car Club. The initial rollout will see some 30 vehicles made available to NHS Fife staff, which is planned to increase to 82 over the coming 12 months.

NHS Fife’s Director of Estates, Facilities and Capital Services, Andrew Fairgrieve, has led the rollout of the initiative and explains its benefits: “NHS Fife’s partnership with Enterprise Car Club offers numerous advantages for both staff and the organisation as a whole.

“Staff participating in the initiative will no longer have to rack up mileage on their personal vehicles, and as each Enterprise Car Club car comes with its own fuel card they do not have to wait weeks to be reimbursed.

“All Enterprise Car Club vehicles are brand new and receive regular cleaning and mechanical check-ups, so NHS Fife staff can be assured that the vehicles will be in tip-top condition whenever they need to use them.”

Another significant advantage of Enterprise Car Club is that it will enable business travel to be considerably more efficient across the organisation. Currently clinical staff must spend time reclaiming any fuel costs they incur; however, participation in the Enterprise Car Club initiative will greatly reduce this, releasing more time to care for patients.

Similarly, there are considerable costs to the Board in reimbursing staff for their costs and the administration involved in doing so. It is projected that the Board’s partnership with Enterprise will deliver savings of more than £100,000 per year, which can be reinvested in frontline patient care.

As all cars available through the Enterprise Car Club programme have small engines and offer low emissions, it is expected that NHS Fife’s new car club will reduce the Board’s CO2 by around 82 tonnes each year.

Chair of NHS Fife Board, Tricia Marwick has endorsed the initiative, saying: “NHS Fife’s number one priority is to provide the very best care we can for our patients, however, we also recognise our wider responsibilities to staff and the population we serve.

“Our involvement in this initiative will enable us to reduce our carbon footprint whilst providing our services more efficiently and investing greater time and resources in patient care.”

Dan Gursel, managing director of Enterprise Car Club said, “Car clubs are a way of offering employees a wider range of options for business travel. Many organisations, especially in the public sector, now see that these programmes bring a number of benefits including cost savings, improved driver safety and reduced emissions. They also demonstrate a modern, sophisticated approach to workplace mobility that increases employee satisfaction.”