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One of the most damning statistics in recent times is if the global healthcare sector were a country, it would be the fifth largest contributor to climate change1. Meanwhile, going further than the greenhouse gas emissions, the NHS providers in England produce 400 loaded jumbo jets of clinical waste every year on its own2. Sustainability and its role in the healthcare environment is a hot topic. However, it’s not just the greenhouse gas emissions and waste production that need to be considered; air pollution, water pollution, and reduction in biodiversity all contribute detrimentally to population health. The health risks these environmental concerns contribute towards in this non-exhaustive list include acute and chronic respiratory conditions, cardiovascular conditions, neurological conditions, and deaths related to adverse weather events or extreme hot and cold weather3.
The consequences of healthcare for sustainability are immense, but healthcare can’t disappear; it has to evolve in how it is supplied, managed and delivered. As healthcare institutions begin to adopt sustainable mindsets, we see clear approaches to the challenge across Europe, such as:
University Hospitals Bristol and Weston NHS Foundation Trust, which reduced the use of carbon-intensive desflurane, an anaesthetic gas which has 20 times the environmental impact of other less harmful greenhouse gases. Completed over a 2-year period, the hospital is now saving the equivalent of 30,000kg CO2 per month.
University Clinic Bonn in Germany has introduced a joint recycling programme for medical device packaging.
In 2020, the Climate Alliance was created in Denmark as a partnership between all 98 municipalities and their five regions with a goal for all public hospitals to reduce their CO2 emissions from energy and transport by 75% by 2030 compared to 2018 levels.
In London, Great Ormond Street Hospital improved hand hygiene policies and empowered staff to use gloves appropriately, leading to a reduction of more than 21 tonnes of waste in 10 months.
In Skaraborg Hospital in Sweden, they installed approximately 7,000 square meters of solar cell panels in the hospital's parking area as well as energy-efficient windows, walls and ceilings. This has led to the building using a quarter as much energy as an average hospital building.
One of the biggest stakeholders and contributors to a hospital’s sustainability touch points are medical suppliers. In 2020, the NHS’ supply chain represented 66% of the NHS’ total overall carbon emissions4. Many of the touch points at a hospital involve suppliers and often with a shared responsibility for how the transaction or interaction takes place. As sustainability is a shared goal, partnerships and collaboration throughout the supply chain are the only way to transform healthcare into a future-ready industry.
See how every step in the life of a glove — from production to disposal — can contribute to the healthcare system's future.
REFERENCES
1. https://global.noharm.org/focus/climate/health-care-climate-footprint-report
2. https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/nhs-clinical-waste-strategy/
3. https://www.nice.org.uk/about/who-we-are/sustainability
4. https://www.england.nhs.uk/ahp/greener-ahp-hub/specific-areas-for-consideration/reducing-the-environmental-impact-of-equipment-medicines-and-resources/
Valued based procurement (VBP) is a purchasing process that generates opportunities to release capacity and delivers tangible and measurable benefits that make a positive impact on patient care and increase efficiency.
Double materiality captures both how sustainability issues affect a company’s financial health and how its operations impact society and the environment. As it becomes a regulatory imperative under the EU’s CSRD, organisations must prepare to integrate both perspectives into their reporting and strategy.
Jennifer Stewart, the Clinical Director at Ansell, explores the critical connection between sustainability and patient outcomes in the exclusive interview with AfPP.
