Sustainable tech company Jump has been awarded a £690,000 contract from NHS England to develop a healthcare-specific carbon engagement tool designed to encourage NHS staff to reduce their carbon footprints.

The funding has been awarded as part of the second phase of a Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Healthcare competition, an Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) initiative championed by Academic Health Science Networks. The competition was run in partnership with the Greener NHS programme.

The new tool will be a healthcare-specific development of Jump’s existing employee engagement platform, which is currently used by 22 NHS trusts in the UK.

Being healthcare-specific, the new development will allow greater participation from the workforce and data tracking within the NHS. It will also help the NHS reach its goal of going net zero by 2040.

Graham Simmonds, chief executive at Jump, said: “We are delighted to have won this contract which will enable us to accelerate our work with NHS Trusts across the country.

“The potential for increased carbon savings through more effective employee engagement is very exciting and it will be great to see the new tool motivating colleagues across the NHS play their part in the journey to net zero.”

The development will see Jump tailor the users’ journey based on their specific working role within the NHS. It will deliver motivating positive actions that are individually tailored to roles, which can help reduce carbon impact in a range of areas including energy use, water use and waste reduction.

The NHS will be able to track employee engagement in the programme, as well as a range of environmental data such as carbon savings of KwH reduced via the platform’s dashboard.

In addition, the carbon calculator will allow staff to calculate the emissions of the individual working role and their actions at home, allowing them to see a split between workplace and home emissions.

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the five NHS trusts within the Dorset Integrated Care System will trial the carbon engagement tool. Following this, it will be available to NHS trusts through Jump’s bespoke sustainability engagement platforms.

Libby Sutherland, head of sustainability at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “This innovation will allow the NHS to track its scope 2 and 3 carbon emissions in a way that is not currently possible and will enable us to reach our goal of net zero by 2040 much faster.

“Working with Jump on the initial development phase of the project has been really exciting and I am confident that colleagues and teams across our five hospitals in Leeds will really get behind the new tool.”

Last January SBRI Healthcare awarded £1m to 10 medical technology and digital innovations designed to support the delivery of a net zero NHS.