The climate emergency is the biggest challenge facing the
population at the moment and healthcare is a big source of emissions. NHSE has
a target that the direct NHS carbon footprint will reach net zero by 2040, and
that for emissions which we can influence but do not control, we will reach net
zero by 2045.
The RCGP net zero hub has three modules, written by GPs who
have a strong interest in this area. An introduction to sustainable healthcare explains
the background to the climate emergency and the part that medicine has to play,
including pharmaceuticals, travel, waste and clinical supply chains. Using an
interactive approach, it encourages users to think about the contribution of
their own clinical services, and what small changes they could start to make,
many of which will also be good for the physical and mental health of our
patients. The module also covers sustainable quality improvement and leadership
in healthcare sustainability.
The second module is about high quality and low carbon
respiratory care – different inhalers cause significantly different emissions
and so changing inhaler types and/or brands can be an easy win to reduce the
carbon footprint of a practice. This module starts with a discussion about the
state of asthma care in the UK, before moving on to explain why dry powder
inhalers are usually greener than metered dose inhalers, and also often easier
to use. For those patients who need to stick with a metered dose inhaler, the
different brands are discussed with regard to emissions. Suggested quality
improvement projects are outlined, as well as green disposal of inhalers and
how this links in with the primary care network (PCN) impact and investment
fund (IIF).
The final module is around non clinical carbon care in
general practice, covering the four key areas of energy, travel, business
services and the procurement of medical and office goods and equipment. For
each area, realistic changes are discussed, many of which have co-benefits in
terms of money saved for the practice and increased staff wellbeing. Working at
scale at PCN or integrated care board (ICB) level is discussed, and it is
recognised that everyone in primary care is busy and that the time needed to
make these changes needs to be funded if they are to happen.
As well as the three modules, the hub also contains a link
to the RCGP net zero action plan for non-clinical emissions, which gives more
detail about how to make changes discussed in the module, and a link to the
green impact for health toolkit. Practices can register with this for free and
those who make significant changes can receive awards for different levels of
change.