Healthcare

The UK health sector is facing numerous challenges, such as:

• Staffing shortages
• An ageing population increasing pressure on services
• Adoption of new technology
• Inequalities in access to healthcare
• Lack of funding to implement changes to reduce the NHS carbon footprint
• Adaptation to climate change
• How to address scope 3 emissions in their supply chain.

Approaches to addressing environmental challenges vary across the UK, and between the public and private sectors. However, the NHS in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is working towards achieving net zero.   An improved environment can help human health in many ways. For example:

• Reducing rising temperatures helps to control disease transmission
• Fewer extreme weather events will help ecosystems and agriculture, preventing malnutrition
• Improving air quality and pollution globally will reduce the number of respiratory illnesses
• The more action taken globally, the more likely we are to reduce climate anxiety
• Daily exposure to a rich natural environment can support our mental health.

Healthcare staff work in a variety of settings, including hospitals, clinics, at home, or in other institutions such as schools or prisons.

All healthcare roles have some sort of responsibility for sustainability, and therefore skills will depend on the individual position. There are also roles created specifically to implement and drive change, such as the following positions within the NHS:

• Sustainability Coordinator
• Energy and Sustainability Manager
• Estates Officer – Energy and Sustainability
• Environmental Public Health Practitioner
• Recycling and Waste Manager

However, the NHS cannot be the only health sector organisation to tackle the climate crisis. The tools it uses, provided by other organisations, are incredibly important for reducing the sector’s environmental impact.

HealthTech, which covers medical devices, diagnostics and digital health, is making great advances in reducing the overall carbon footprint of the healthcare system. Tools developed by HealthTech organisations are helping in several ways, from reducing waste in manufacturing processes, to developing innovative new devices that completely change patient pathways.

Whether it be the dedicated Sustainability Lead, a Product Designer or Operations Manager, all roles in healthcare can help aid the sustainability agenda.

There are some fantastic examples and case studies online, including how Great Ormond Street Hospital reduced single-use plastics and explaining how Solihull Hospital performed the world’s first net zero carbon operation.   

1. 2020 report of The Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change   
2. Greener NHS
3. NHS Scotland Climate Emergency and Sustainability Strategy: 2022-2026
4. The Carbon Footprint of Surgical Operations: A Systematic Review (Rizan C, Steinbach I, Nicholson R, Lillywhite R, Reed M, Bhutta MF.)
5. Information on NHS estates sustainability career pathways