strategy document
“Taking action now will not only
reduce this risk in the long term. Action
now will also have health benefits
immediately. Increased levels of
active travel, for instance, lead to a
reduced risk of obesity, diabetes, heart
disease, and mild mental illness, as
well as reducing road traffic injuries
and deaths, and improving air quality.
Action will not only benefit the health
of the population now, but also
benefit and support changes in the
health care system as a whole.”
Saving Carbon, Improving Health
devised by his ‘compact’ organisation based even eliminate the carbon component of their
in Cambridge. He has been a passionate cam- activities.
paigner for sustainability most of his life, and “In the present financial environment, we
the opportunity to head the SDU combined have to make the case that a pound saved by
that long-term involvement with his profes- not using carbon-producing materials is a
sional interests in pursuing clinical standards pound more to spend on patient–facing serv-
across the community. ices. It is the same as a business which re-
The SDU team was quick off the mark, pub- duces its energy costs, for example, adding
lishing a consultation document in May 2008 that saving to its profit line.
and following this up with Saving Carbon, Im- “If we can help the NHS community to
proving Health - NHS Carbon Reduction Strategy for change the way they work so that less carbon
England in January 2009. is generated, we are immediately reducing
A single A4 tome running to some 70 pages both the cost of delivering health services and
of text is clearly not going to provide the the associated carbon emissions.”
panacæa for the health sector’s carbon ills. A Addressing an audience whose primary ob-
suite of a dozen more detailed but shorter in- jective is providing medical care and support
formation guides published to accompany services to the population, it is perhaps inevi-
Saving Carbon may have fleshed out the master table that one of the objectives set out in the
plan but does not provide the kind of ‘national January 2009 statement should relate to that
curriculum’ to which the state-maintained end:
education sector, for example, is required to “Taking action now will not only reduce this
follow in its teaching. risk in the long term. Action now will also
have health benefits immediately. In-
Meeting individual needs across NHS
creased levels of active travel, for instance,
lead to a reduced risk of obesity, diabetes,
David Pencheon set the strategy documents heart disease, and mild mental illness, as
in context. “We accept that all the constituent well as reducing road traffic injuries and
parts of the NHS have different drivers and so deaths, and improving air quality. Action
the SDU message has to be cast in a way that will not only benefit the health of the popu-
meets their individual needs. The objective of lation now, but also benefit and support
the plan is to show every part of the Service changes in the health care system as a
the steps they should be taking to reduce or whole.”
A single A4 tome running to some 70 pages of text and a suite of a dozen quite helpful information
guides is clearly not going to provide the panacæa for the English health sector’s carbon ills.
The Informed Executive
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