Thursday 22 August 2013

NHS Trust challenges £35k energy overcharge

An NHS Trust in Lanarkshire was overcharged £35,089 on its energy bill.

The Trust discovered the huge mistake after switching energy supplier.

The large sum had mounted up on a series of bills and was only noticed after reviewing final meter readings and meter readings from the new supplier.

Electricity can make up more than half of a hospital’s energy cost and the UK healthcare sector spends more than £400 million on energy every year, according to the Carbon Trust.

With such massive energy costs it seems charges can easily escape unnoticed.

Marie Porteous, Head of Sustainability & Environmental Management hit upon the error with some TEAM Sigma software she uses to keep track of energy charges and credits as well as the best and worst performing sites for power use.

She said: “I just sent an email containing the data and a screenshot of [the data] and was credited without any dispute.”

NHS Lanarkshire runs 72 sites, has around 12,000 staff and is responsible for improving the health of 562,477 people in North and South Lanarkshire.