SUSTAINABILITY
others were starting to declare a ‘Climate Emergency’, emphasising the recent warnings from authoritative scientists arguing for the full ‘truth’ on global warming to be told, and that much more concerted action needed to be taken as priority. A big message was the need to engage others.
‘Listening to the science’ “Some councils,” he explained, “were committing to listening to the science, and began targeting carbon neutrality by 2030, some by 2040, and some by 2050.” Against this backdrop, James Dixon changed the focus of his paper before it went for Board approval to a proposal to declare a ‘Climate Emergency’. He said: “Essentially I was arguing that the move was strongly aligned to our priorities as a Trust – patient health, as well as the medical ethos of ‘first do no harm’, both of which are certainly impacted by climate breakdown. Equally, I argued that while we had ‘a good story’ to tell of what we had done to date, we needed a step change in activity. Our civic partners were also starting to declare, giving us the opportunity to work collaboratively on local action.” The proposal ‘went down really well’, albeit with some
‘understandable queries’ about both the cost, and whether the Trust could actually ‘deliver’ on the commitment. James Dixon added: “In principle, the thrust of my message, and of the declaration, was that we would commit to carbon neutrality by 2040. Subsequently, the Government agreed a commitment to aim for full ‘net zero carbon’ by 2050, having previously set a target of 80 per cent over the same timescale. We were trying to push the boundaries, but the soonest we could map to at the Trust, at the time, was 2040 for our full scope of emissions.”
A ‘roller-coaster’ ride
He added: “There was then a bit of a roller-coaster, with the Board and Executive understandably asking some tough questions. Ultimately, however, I managed to get it over the line, and it was announced, after a Board meeting to ratify my proposal, that the Trust was going to be brave, and declare, last June. Initially, we thought we were just the first UK NHS Trust to declare, but we heard subsequently that we were actually the first healthcare organisation in the world to do so.” I asked James Dixon his view of the overall significance of the Trust declaring a ‘Climate Emergency’. He said: “It is a major strategic and communication tool that has worked for us. As a result of declaring, we have secured a public, top- level commitment to sustainability. Thus, when arguing the case for carbon reduction, or for investment in new-builds that meet Passivhaus or BREEAM ‘Outstanding’ certification, I get full
52 Health Estate Journal July 2020
An anaesthetic gas machine. An anaesthetist-led initiative to reduce the use of the most harmful anaesthetic gases has seen a 40 per cent reduction in the associated carbon footprint of this one clinical service at the Trust.
backing. We already have buildings within our Capital Plan that have design requirements to meet those standards, the primary aim being for them to be as low carbon in use as possible. Although never achieved in acute UK healthcare to date, Passivhaus is the standard we are aspiring to.”
Since the Newcastle Trust declared ‘Climate Emergency’, James Dixon said a number of others had followed suit. He added: “Currently, I think at least 6 or 7 more Trusts have declared, and a number of others are going through the necessary governance steps. Over 50 per cent of local authorities, and a number of universities, have also done so. This has happened both in the UK and overseas.”
Opening doors
Since declaring ‘Climate Emergency’, the Newcastle Trust has apparently been ‘inundated with interest from other Trusts’. James Dixon said: “We have engaged well beyond our borders. Staff across the north-east region are very keen, and we are doing a lot via our North East & Cumbria Integrated Care System. We are working with other anchor institutes across the region, leading on climate action. I am lucky to have our Chief Executive, Dame Jackie Daniel, who has been very supportive of this work since she arrived in 2018.”
Nationally, James Dixon explained that he is in the process of setting up the Shelford Group of Sustainability leads, given that there is – as he puts it, ‘a big appetite for us to work with central government to instigate system-wide change’. He said: “I have been asked to
chair the forum, with the first meeting having taken place virtually in May. Dame Jackie Daniel is also on the NHS Net Zero Expert Panel tasked with looking at how the NHS as a whole can decarbonise to ‘Net Zero’ at the earliest opportunity. She is thus in discussions with top academics and senior leaders to pull together a ‘net zero roadmap’ for the health and care sector.” James Dixon added that since The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust declared a number of other Trusts had done so, with some setting even earlier targets. He said: “This is very encouraging. Each organisation will have its own challenges and opportunities with this. That said, it’s not really about who is targeting the earliest deadline, but more about how – working concertedly – we can all bring the carbon emissions curve down as steeply as possible. It’s our action in the next five years that counts.”
James Dixon acknowledged that while NHS organisations, Estates and Sustainability teams being no exception, were often too busy to ‘take stock’ of their achievements and celebrate success, he was ‘very proud’ of the work and contribution to the carbon-cutting agenda of his Sustainability Team.
A great opportunity to highlight work
He concluded: “The IHEEM regional CPD event on 30 January – a really good opportunity to talk about our work on sustainability at the Trust – was very much Rob Smith’s idea; he wanted me to do some CPD work for the region, and asked me to get in touch with local, relevant contacts, and for us to have ‘Climate Emergency’ as the theme. Rob is a Chartered Engineer, an IHEEM member, and a big advocate of the professional development opportunities that the Institute provides. We had a really good range of IHEEM members, as well as academics and private sector partners attend. The venue – the Joe Harvey Suite at St James’ Park – was absolutely full. We had to request extra chairs. The event was kindly sponsored by Sharpsmart, a company which puts a strong focus on sustainability. It set up its first European facility in Durham, just south of us, when we first brought the company’s service over to our Northern Consortium of NHS Trusts from America and Australia. Sharpsmart now has a number of other UK hospital contracts. After a decade of hard graft I do feel we are starting to see the healthcare sector taking notice of sustainability. To see that we as a team have helped highlight the need for urgent action on NHS carbon emissions is very pleasing, but what is more important is how we collectively act on ‘reducing the curve’ to stand a chance of averting climate chaos.”
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