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Showing results for tags 'Sustainability'.
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Event
AfPP Annual Conference 2023
Patient Safety Learning posted a calendar event in Community Calendar
untilAs one of the largest gatherings of perioperative professionals in the UK, the AfPP Annual Conference is essential for anyone working in the perioperative field. This year’s theme is ‘A Profession To Be Proud Of’. Topics for 2023 include: Surgical plume and fires Leadership and Human Factors Surgical skills workshops Sustainability ...and much more! Register- Posted
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- Surgery - General
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Safety for All: Sustainability webinar
Patient Safety Learning posted a calendar event in Community Calendar
Climate change has been recognised as the “biggest global health threat of the 21st Century”. Healthcare is one of the most significant contributors to greenhouse gas emissions and there are steps which healthcare professionals and organisations can and should be taking to tackle this issue. In 2020, the NHS set out a bold ambition to become the world’s first carbon net zero national health system by 2045. The Safety For All campaign is hosting a webinar on the topic of sustainability where attendees will have the opportunity to hear from a frontline health worker leading the sustainability charge within her NHS trust and the ABHI’s Sustainability Executive who will speak about the steps industry can take to improve sustainability. The webinar is open to everyone with an interest in the importance of sustainability in healthcare. The programme: 13:00 - Welcome by Charlie Bohan-Hurst, Safer Healthcare & Biosafety Network 13:05 - Presentation by Angela Hayes, CNS Palliative & Supportive Care, Clinical Sustainability at The Christie Foundation Trust 13:25 - Presentation by Addie MacGregor, Sustainability Executive at the Association of British HealthTech Industries (ABHI) 13:45 - Q&A session 13:55 - Conclusions and wrap up of webinar. Register for free -
Content Article
Dr Kate Crossland, Guys & St Thomas' NHS Trust (2 March 2023) - as the founder of the national Palliative Care Sustainability Network, Kate talks about what motivated her to make sustainable changes in the workplace and influence changes across the wider Palliative Care field. Laura Jane Brown (14 January 2023) - talks about her recent work exploring NHS staff's attitudes to Net Zero. Dr Cliff Shelton, a leader, teacher and researcher in Healthcare Sustainability at Manchester Foundation Trust (1 December 2022) - discusses sustainable anaesthesia, peri-operative medicine and nitrous oxide manifolds. Professor Marion Lynch, Global Health Consultant and Research (24 November 2022) - talks about health and well-being to promote resilience, and empower nurses to create a modern and sustainable workforce. Rob Chuter, Christie Foundation Trust, Manchester, Radiotherapy Physicist (19 November 2022) - the Founder and Chair of the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM) Environmental Sustainability Group (ESG) chats about his passion for preserving our planet. Dr Fin Craig, Consultant in Paediatric Palliative Care, Great Ormond Street Hospital (1 November 2022) - shares his passion for all things green.- Posted
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- Climate change
- Staff engagement
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News Article
Scotland first country in the world to ban environmentally harmful anaesthetic
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
Scotland has become the first country in the world to stop its hospitals using the anaesthetic desflurane because of the threat it poses to the environment. NHS data suggests the gas, used to keep people unconscious during surgery, has a global warming potential 2,500 times greater than carbon dioxide. Banning it in Scotland - from its peak use in 2017 - would cut emissions equal to powering 1,700 homes a year. In the last few years, more than 40 hospital trusts in England and a number of hospitals in Wales have stopped using it. Dr Kenneth Barker, anaesthetist and clinical lead for Scotland's national green theatres programme, said he was shocked to find the anaesthetic drug he had used for more than a decade for many major and routine operations was so harmful to the environment. "I realised in 2017 that the amount of desflurane we used in a typical day's work as an anaesthetist resulted in emissions equivalent to me driving 670 miles that day," he said. "I decided to stop using it straight away and many fellow anaesthetists have got on board. "When you are faced with something as obvious as this and with the significance it has to the environment - I am very glad we have got to this stage." Read full story Source: BBC News, 3 March 2023- Posted
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Content Article
RCGP Net Zero hub
Patient Safety Learning posted an article in Climate change/sustainability
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- Climate change
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News Article
‘Overheating’ incidents nearly double across NHS estates
Patient Safety Learning posted a news article in News
The number of overheating incidents in clinical areas reported by NHS trusts has almost doubled over the last five years, with directors saying ageing estates make them vulnerable to extreme weather events. Providers reported that temperatures went above 26°C – the threshold for a risk assessment – more than 5,500 times in 2021-22, according to official data. Overheating looks set to become an increasingly significant issue for NHS estates, HSJ was told, as climate change makes extreme weather events more frequent and more intense. Janet Smith, head of sustainability at Royal Wolverhampton and Walsall Healthcare Trusts, said: “We’re feeling it now. And it’s not going to change unless we do something about it. We need a climate resilient estate to actually deliver sustainable care.” An overheating incident is when the temperature surpasses 26°C in an occupied ward or clinical space in a day, with each area counting as a separate incident. When this happens, trusts should carry out a risk assessment and take action to ensure the safety of vulnerable patients. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 16 February 2023- Posted
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- Infrastructure / building / equipment
- External factors
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News Article
Trusts abandon renewable electricity commitment
Patient-Safety-Learning posted a news article in News
Around half of the largest trusts are not buying all their electricity from renewable sources despite a national requirement to do so, as prices of this type of energy rocket. NHS England previously committed to the service purchasing only renewable energy from April 2021, as part of efforts to meet its target to be net zero for emissions it can control–including electricity–by 2040. However, NHSE information seen by HSJ shows that nine of the largest 20 trusts have not been buying 100 per cent renewable electricity this financial year, amid soaring costs. Several trusts told HSJ they had abandoned previous decisions to only use electricity which was “guaranteed” to be renewable. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 15 February 2023 -
Content Article
An evaluation was undertaken for a one-month period (June 2022) in two adult cardiac surgery services which routinely used patient smartphones for PDS, using the secure Islacare (Isla) system. The initial patient response rate for Isla was 87.3%, and the majority of patients (73%) remained engaged throughout the 30-day period. There was no significant difference in age, gender, operation type or distance to hospital between Isla responders or non-responders, or if the hospital provided a photo at discharge or not. Patients using Isla had a shorter post-discharge stay (P = 0.03), although this was not attributed to the platform. Patients not owning a smartphone and a technical issue were the main barriers to participation. Overall, nine SSIs were recorded, eight through the Isla surveillance and one through a hospital transfer readmission. The carbon emission associated with the SSI ranged from 5 to 2615 kg CO2e. The authors concluded that in a real-world setting, using patient smartphones is an effective method to collect PDS, including wound images.- Posted
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- Surgery - General
- Healthcare associated infection
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Event
SHARE Conference (Sustainable Healthcare Academic Research and Enterprise))
Sam posted a calendar event in Community Calendar
The SHARE conference (Sustainable Healthcare Academic Research and Enterprise) is an annual event co-hosted by the University of Brighton, Brighton and Sussex Medical School and Centre for Sustainable Healthcare. The SHARE 2023 conference is a free online event, on 12 May 2023. It is an opportunity to share your research, quality improvement, education or any other type of project related to improving the sustainability of healthcare. Register- Posted
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- Sustainability
- Climate change
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Content Article
The Green Team Competition is a quality improvement initiative at the Christie NHS Foundation Trust run with support from The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, which encourages more sustainable ways of delivering healthcare. Teams were asked for ideas to cut carbon, but also help patient care and save money. Competitors, from endocrinology, palliative/supportive care, outreach, surgical theatre, radiotherapy and anaesthesia did just this – in bucket loads! The projects were varied and ranged from streamlining resuscitation equipment and preventing theatres delays/cancellations, to removing, literally, tonnes of carbon through leaky nitrous oxide pipework. The judges were bowled over with all the results, but awarded the palliative/supportive care team as winners with their photobiomodulation therapy for treating/ preventing oral mucositis. Photobiomodulation therapy is the application of light (usually a low power laser or LED) to promote tissue repair, reduce inflammation or induce analgesia. The ‘highly commended’ award went to the Endocrine/Ward 11 team (who looked at introducing screening tools to prevent hip fractures. The results of the projects were wonderful, predicting savings of over £550,000 a year. The environmental benefits were really impressive – with carbon reductions equivalent to doing 734 return journeys from Manchester to Kings Cross! But the real overall winners are our patients. As an example, In the Palliative/Supportive Care project, Alex Langstaff (the Clinical Nurse Specialist who led the project) was able to show not only massive cost and environmental benefits of photobiomodulation, but the huge impact on patients – which the judging panel were particularly impressed with. She demonstrated significant reduction in hospital admissions and clear improvements to patient’s quality of life. Alex is now working to buy six machines to embed photobiomodulation into future treatment regimens. The Green Team Competition has inspired green thinking amongst the competitors, why not think about your own ideas?- Posted
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- Innovation
- Climate change
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Event
International Forum on Quality and Safety in Healthcare
Sam posted a calendar event in Community Calendar
untilThe Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) and BMJ bring you one of the largest international conferences focused on improving outcomes for patients and communities through quality improvement. Themed Adapting to a changing world: equity, sustainability and wellbeing for all, the conference programme will focus on how the improvement movement can help healthcare systems adapt and thrive in a rapidly changing world. Key topics we will address include equity, sustainability, wellbeing and learning from adverse events. Further information and registration- Posted
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- Health inequalities
- Quality improvement
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Content Article
The authors conducted a literature search to identify quality improvement initiatives that aimed to decrease the environmental impact of the operating room while reducing costs. Data were included from 23 unique quality improvement initiatives that described 28 interventions. Eleven (39.3%), eight (28.6%), three (10.7%), and six (21.4%) interventions, respectively, were categorised as refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle. The researchers found that the potential annual cost savings varied from $2,233 (intervention: transition to a waterless surgical scrub; environmental impact: 2.7 million litre of water saved annually) to $694,141 (intervention: education to reduce regulated medical waste; environmental impact: 30% reduction in regulated medical waste), although the methods of measuring environmental impact and cost savings varied considerably among studies. "The opportunity to reduce our carbon footprint falls squarely on us, and I see surgeons taking a prominent role in leading efforts, not just locally with their green implementation teams, but in setting national standards and policies that will move this effort forward for an overall sustainable way of approaching health care delivery," a coauthor said in a statement.- Posted
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- Physical environment
- Workforce management
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Content Article
In May 2022, a team at Solihull Hospital performed the world’s first net zero carbon operation. It involved a range of colleagues making several changes to their standard practice, including: using reusable gowns, drapes, and scrub caps giving medications through the veins for general anaesthesia rather than anaesthetic gases, which have a strong greenhouse effect implementing a plan for minimising electricity use, including heating and lighting recycling of single-use equipment used in surgery, working with industry partners recycling of “clean” paper and plastic waste using individually packed equipment, and only opening items as they were required one consultant surgeon jogged to hospital, and the other cycled. Safety and efficiency were maintained for the patient throughout, carried out within a full, day-long operating list, including surgery for three other patients.- Posted
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- Sustainability
- Climate change
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Event
Nursing and Midwifery Sustainability Network
Patient Safety Learning posted a calendar event in Community Calendar
untilInterested in sustainability and a Greener NHS? Join the Nursing and Midwifery Sustainability Network and help improve health now and for future generations. Nurses, midwives and care staff have a unique role to play in supporting the NHS’ net zero goal. They are already making tangible changes to tackle climate change while improving care. And together, we can achieve even more. That’s why NHS England is launching a Nursing and Midwifery Sustainability Network. The network will create a space and opportunity to share ideas, successes, and innovative practices and it will help us to address barriers and discuss challenges in order for our professions to make a real impact. Nurse, midwives and care staff prove every day that that they are adept at identifying issues and creating solutions – skills that are immensely valuable in reducing the NHS carbon footprint and delivering the NHS’ net zero goal. Come along to the online launch event and first network meeting to find out more about the network and how you can get involved. Open to all nurses and midwives working within the NHS in England, please sign up using your NHS email. Further information -
Content Article
The urgent need to reduce the serious harms of overuse in healthcare led to a global movement, Choosing Wisely, launched in the United States in 2012 and now active in more than 30 countries across six continents, including the UK. Choosing Wisely campaigns are national grassroots efforts, led by clinicians in partnership with patients, other clinicians, and professional societies. They provide evidence based recommendations about changes to practice and develop tools to help clinicians implement those recommendations in partnership with patients.- Posted
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- Sustainability
- Prescribing
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Content Article
This year’s Lancet Countdown report, 2022 on Health and Climate Change (a collaboration of over 120 leading experts from UN countries and academic institutions) warns that ‘the health of people around the world is at the mercy of a persistent fossil fuel addiction’. The report makes it “clearer than ever that we are at a critical point” says Rachel Stancliffe, Director of The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, and that “if we continue as we are, including subsidising fossil fuels, we will be locked into a devastating future for the children of today”. The report states how alarming things have become – with a 68% increase in heat-related deaths amongst the most vulnerable population groups (infants and those over 65years) in the last four years. It claims that governments and companies continue to prioritise the fossil fuels above, and to the detriment of peoples’ health, jeopardising a liveable future. The Lancet Countdown report’s key message is that we face a critical juncture and states that a health-centred, aligned response to the crisis, can deliver a future where people can not only survive, but thrive. We owe it to future generations to heed this and act now!- Posted
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- Climate change
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Content Article
The impact of climate change on public health is extensive (see diagram from the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare below) and has been declared an ‘emergency’. The climate crisis threatens to undo the gains we made to public health over the last 50 years and threatens the lives of millions. It impacts on the most vulnerable members of society – those who contribute to global warming the least and who are least resilient to its effects. Avoidable deaths are happening now – we’ve seen the devastation caused by the recent floods in Pakistan, and the ongoing famine in Somalia means thousands face starvation. Both these are directly attributable to global warming. The climate emergency is literally on our doorstep and we have to act now – not in the future. We have to act in response to an emergency. As healthcare professionals we have a duty to care, to protect and promote public health. Our nursing unions agree and, as the most trusted profession for the 20th consecutive year, nurses are ideally placed to deliver this vital climate emergency health message. Working in a greener way should be an integral part of every nurse’s role – not just a job for some bloke in the Estates Team who’s changing a few old light bulbs and installing recycling bins! Sustainable ways of working clinically comes in many forms – from prescribing to reduce unnecessary pharmacological waste, to general dietary health advice to our patients (cutting down on meat and dairy is the most effective way an individual can reduce their own carbon footprint – by up to 70% and is great for the pocket and the waistline). Metered dose inhalers have a terrible carbon footprint, as do some anaesthetic gases. In my department, we’re exploring the use of a light-source treatment for cancer patients having chemo and radiotherapy – which maintains the mucosal lining and prevents the need for complex pain management, prolonged feeding regimes and, ultimately, hospital admissions. Living and working greener is just generally better all round – for our health and that of our planet. And if by looking after our planet our own health improves, then it’s win-win! What can you identify in your clinical practice to reduce waste and cost and help meet the Net Zero targets? Because it’s only by working together, that we’ve a chance of meeting them! We would love to hear what you and your trust are doing about sustainability and climate change. Is this something you've discussed at work? Share your good practice and ideas in the comment field below. Further blogs from Angela Climate change: why it needs to be on every Trust's agenda- Posted
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- Physical environment
- Work / environment factors
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Content Article
Two targets have been set For the emissions we control directly (the NHS Carbon Footprint), we will reach net zero by 2040, with an ambition to reach an 80% reduction by 2028 to 2032; For the emissions we can influence (our NHS Carbon Footprint Plus), we will reach net zero by 2045, with an ambition to reach an 80% reduction by 2036 to 2039. The report sets out the considerable advances that the NHS has already made in improving our carbon footprint and reducing the environmental impact of our services. It provides a detailed account of the NHS’ modelling and analytics underpinning the latest NHS carbon footprint, trajectories to net zero and the interventions required to achieve that ambition. It lays out the direction, scale and pace of change. It describes an iterative and adaptive approach, which will periodically review progress and aims to increase the level of ambition over time.- Posted
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- Climate change
- Patient safety strategy
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