Thought leadership

<p>Awoken to the critical importance of sustainable healthcare, the NHS is now in a pivotal phase for turning ambition into action. The first target refers to the emissions the NHS controls directly (NHS facilities, anaesthetics, electricity etc.) with a goal to reach <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/greenernhs/a-net-zero-nhs/">net zero by 2040 and, an 80% reduction by 2028 to 2032</a>. For emissions which can be influenced by the NHS (medical devices, construction, IT etc.), the goal is to reach<a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/greenernhs/a-net-zero-nhs/"> net zero by 2045, with an 80% reduction by 2036 to 2039</a>. </p>
<p>While these targets may appear ambitious, it is important that we recognise the keystone progress moments of 2022, which mark significant advancement for green innovation. Since June 2022, every NHS Trust in England has a board-approved Green Plan in place. Furthermore, in May 2022, a team at Solihull Hospital performed the world’s first net zero carbon operation, the cost of which typically accounts for 25% of a hospital’s carbon emission output. </p>
<p>Despite these successes, there remain areas of risk and of opportunity that have not yet been properly addressed or explored by the government and NHS Trusts. </p><h4><strong>A challenging decarbonisation journey</strong></h4>
<p>Decarbonisation will be a priority and one of the greatest challenges the NHS will face in delivering net zero. Currently, healthcare buildings contribute <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/greenernhs/2022/10/blog-drive-for-energy-efficient-healthcare-is-delivering-for-patients-and-planet/">15% of the total NHS carbon footprint</a>. </p>
<p>October 2022 saw the opening of Phase 3b of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme and more than <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/greenernhs/2022/10/blog-drive-for-energy-efficient-healthcare-is-delivering-for-patients-and-planet/">30 NHS healthcare facilities secured a total of £329 million for energy-efficient innovations and heat decarbonisation</a>. While the NHS is estimated to save 1 million tonnes of carbon as a result, capturing building-level data required to identify low-carbon heating alternatives are overall still in the early stages of implementation across NHS trusts. Continued funding will be crucial to enabling the continuation of the scheme and the development of the appropriate tools and analytics so that all NHS facilities can undergo decarbonisation. </p><h4><strong>Safeguarding healthcare infrastructure</strong></h4>
<p>Climate change risk management and adaptation will play an important role in protecting the NHS. Heat presents a key risk to the NHS, with the summer heatwaves of 2022 shining a light on the vulnerabilities present within building infrastructure. With <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/378/bmj.o1772">a third of the NHS estate having been built before 1965,</a> there is a serious maintenance backlog issue, risking catastrophic failure and disruption to clinical services. </p>
<p>Alongside emissions reduction efforts, social value continues to be a high priority on the sustainability agenda for the NHS. Driven by the public procurement note (<a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/921437/PPN-06_20-Taking-Account-of-Social-Value-in-the-Award-of-Central-Government-Contracts.pdf">PPN 06/20</a>), social value delivery within the NHS’ supply chain provides a mechanism to align targets, obtain scope 3 footprints and deliver additional value to the communities served by national healthcare. </p><h4><strong>The efficacy of social prescribing </strong></h4>
<p>Another key initiative is social prescribing which presents significant opportunities for public health benefits through engagement with integrated care systems (ICSs). This alternative treatment method works to reduce demand on healthcare facilities and strengthen community support. Non-pharmaceutical medical interventions such as green social prescribing also work to address the importance of being outdoors for people’s mental and physical health. </p><h4><strong>The impact of green technologies</strong></h4>
<p>Finally, continued investment into innovative technologies and new processes will be a point of focus within the healthcare sector. For example, the use of anaesthetic gas, desflurane – <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/greenernhs/whats-already-happening/nhs-organisations-cut-desflurane-in-drive-for-greener-surgery/">which is responsible for 2% of all NHS emissions and is more than 2,500 times more potent than carbon dioxide</a> – is currently at its lowest levels across the NHS and has recently set to <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/blog/putting-anaesthetic-emissions-to-bed/#:~:text=That%27s%20why%2C%20with%20the%20support,of%20desflurane%20by%20early%202024.">be decommissioned by early 2024</a>. To date, interventions replacing it with clinically appropriate and safe alternatives has saved the NHS an estimated <a href="https://www.england.nhs.uk/greenernhs/whats-already-happening/nhs-organisations-cut-desflurane-in-drive-for-greener-surgery/">60,816 tonnes of carbon emissions per year</a></p>
<p>To continue to move at pace against Trust Green Plans, 2023 should be a year of shared learning, keystone commitments, and data-driven action. Efforts of NHS staff up and down the country, along with the support of Royal Colleges and leadership, have proven the potential and scalability of several solutions. Now is the time to commit and reap the associated wider societal, environmental and financial benefits. </p>
<p>This article was published in: </p>

Green social prescribing

Delivering healthier outcomes

News

Fit for the future: sustainability trends in the NHS for 2023

Breadcrumbs

Howells—Studio

Lexica

Decarbonisation will be a priority and one of the greatest challenges the NHS will face in delivering net zero.

description

generator

keywords

https://cms.lexica.co.uk/images/_1200x630_crop_center-center_82_none/Green-social-prescribing.jpg?mtime=1677843273

The image is of people walking past a healthcare and life sciences building in London

https://www.linkedin.com/company/etl-essentia-trading-limited

https://www.lexica.co.uk/articles/fit-for-the-future-sustainability-trends-in-the-nhs-for-2023

referrer

robots

twitter:card

twitter:creator

twitter:description

https://cms.lexica.co.uk/images/_800x418_crop_center-center_82_none/Green-social-prescribing.jpg?mtime=1677843273