Homerton Hospital is set to become the first NHS Hospital Trust to have a fully electric ambulance fleet.

ERS Medical, health and social care transport provider, will be providing the fleet of fully electric ambulances to Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust for its non-emergency patient transport services.

The news follows a successful launch of the first electric ambulance for the trust in November last year.

Andrew Pooley, chief executive at ERS Medical, said: “There are significant environmental benefits from a completely electric fleet, not to mention an enhanced patient experience with smoother and quieter journeys."

ERS Medical will be rolling out additional vehicles in the coming months, to provide a fully electric ambulance fleet for the trust by the end of 2024.

Graham Snowling, environmental sustainability manager at Homerton, said the hospital is committed to the NHS's net zero aim.

Mr Snowling added: "After the successful launch of the first electric ambulance last year, we are now implementing our plan for a fully electric patient transport fleet – further improving the air quality for residents in City and Hackney.”

The electric ambulances will be used for non-emergency patient transport journeys for Homerton University Hospital and community services.

According to ERS Medical, each ambulance saves 4000 kilograms of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions every year, when compared to a diesel vehicle.

They take 45 minutes to reach 80 per cent battery with a DC charge.

In the first few months of successfully trialling one electric ambulance for Homerton Hospital, ERS Medical says 64kg of CO2 has been saved.

The figure would otherwise have been generated by diesel vehicles undertaking 2300 miles of patient transport journeys.

In a year, this saving is projected to be equal to nearly four tonnes of CO2 emissions.

Phill Wells, director of finance at Homerton Hospital, added: “This is a really important commitment that we have made as a trust and demonstrates the importance of environmental sustainability to the organisation.

"We are delighted that Homerton, with ERS Medical, are leading the way towards a greener NHS and a greener future.”