Greener AHP

Where appropriate, bringing sustainable practices from home to your work setting.

Implementing changes supported by the Delivering a Net Zero NHS report in your particular professional or clinical setting. Can you change anything about the ward or clinic environment? The equipment you use or the catering?

Considering your role in influencing professional practice and policy at local, regional, national, and international levels. This could mean demonstrating the long-term benefits of policy change such as the connection between incineration policy or vehicle emissions and long-term benefits to respiratory health through improved air quality.

Leveraging the combined strength and influence we have as groups of professionals to shape policy, legislation and politics.

Using the information elsewhere on these web pages and the Delivering a Net Zero NHS report, you could start with a personal assessment of your working life. For example, how often you travel to work.

Being mindful of the importance of patient needs and clinical outcomes. For example, people with dysphagia may need plastic straws so a blanket ban isn’t realistic, however you might be able to influence change by directing your procurement lead to the single use plastic reduction pledges such as those in the NHS Long Term Plan.

Link to ‘Delivering a Net Zero NHS.’

https://www.england.nhs.uk/greenernhs/publication/delivering-a-net-zero-national-health-service/

Environmental harm also harms health

Adopting more sustainable behaviours can take place at different levels: individual, team, organisation or system. All health and care staff need to be advocates for change and AHPs have opportunities to lead the way in shaping behaviour for patients, colleagues, students, visitors, and the public at each level.

Models of care: The NHS Long Term Plan (LTP) set out a commitment to deliver care in new ways for the 21st century. This must also include a focus on reducing carbon emissions and will involve using environmental impact as an additional factor in care design.

Workforce: We are mobilising, informing and upskilling our 1.3 million staff to drive and implement the interventions needed to support a Greener NHS.

Medicines: The NHS is working with patients, clinicians and industry to reduce emissions by reducing waste, ensuring that the right medicines are available for patients and enabling shared, informed decision making.

Estates and facilities: Delivering a net zero health service will require work to ensure new hospitals and buildings are net zero compatible, as well as ensuring improvements are made to the existing estate.

Travel and transport: Approximately 3.5% (9.5 billion miles) of all road travel in England relates to patients, visitors, staff and suppliers to the NHS, contributing around 14% of the system’s total emissions. This includes transitioning the NHS transport fleet to zero-emission vehicles, reducing unnecessary journeys and enabling healthier, active forms of travel such as cycling and walking.

Supply chain: The NHS uses products from more than 80,000 suppliers, encompassing medical equipment, food, business and office goods. The non-medicines supply chain makes up 42% of the NHS Carbon Footprint Plus

Food and nutrition: It is estimated that food and catering services in the NHS accounts for approximately 6% the NHS’ Carbon Footprint Plus. A healthy balanced diet, with reduced processed foods high in sugar, salt and fats is also a low-carbon diet.

The Greener NHS programme is working closely with the Hospital Food Review and the new National Review of NHS Food Standards. Collaboration with NHS catering leads, dieticians and suppliers will help provide healthier, locally sourced food to patients, staff and visitors, while cutting emissions related to agriculture, transport, storage and food waste across the supply chain and on our NHS estate.