Sustainability and NHS Net Carbon Zero

Theme Leads:  Professor Peter Culmer and Mr Adam Peckham-Cooper

 

Background

This theme will focus on the methods and technologies needed to reduce waste and promote sustainability, drawing on established partnerships and networks to help the NHS realise its ambition of reducing its carbon footprint to zero by 2040.

Activities are designed to span four key areas; 1) promoting awareness and knowledge of sustainability in healthcare to support, 2) robust methods for assessment and evaluation of environmental impact in healthcare, 3) working with industry to understand their needs, leading to 4) informed design and implementation of strategies to improve sustainability and carbon impact within the NHS. These activities will be amplified by dissemination of case studies to catalyse further activity and inspire wider engagement, building experience across a growing network of industry and healthcare partners.

 

---

 

Areas of Focus

Building awareness and knowledge exchange for sustainable and net zero healthcare: we will target patient groups, healthcare and allied-health professionals, and the healthcare industry to raise awareness of the negative impact that climate change has on our population health and the need for strategies to reduce the NHS carbon footprint.

NHS Delivering a “Net Zero” National Health Service: we will coordinate knowledge-exchange activities (online workshops) with industry and national surgical representative groups (e.g., Surgical Royal Colleges and Surgical Healthcare Professionals) to promote engagement in net zero and sustainability initiatives, with signposting to practical actions for change.

Assessment of sustainability and carbon impact: in collaboration with WRM Ltd and Oxford Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, we will build a Sustainability Evaluation Toolkit to undertake practical assessments in healthcare contexts.

Working with industry partners and other stakeholders: we will hold networking events with industry partners (Revolution Zero, Vanguard AG, Surgical Innovations, Summit Medical) and other sustainability stakeholders (NHS Supply Chain Sustainability Team, YH AHSN) to better understand sustainability from an industry and systems perspective.

Implementation: we will work with partners to implement sustainable initiatives within the healthcare sector.

 

---

Patient and Public Involvement/Engagement Events