Sustainability
Looking into the green surgical future
Kate Woodhead RGN DMS concludes her series of insights into sustainability in healthcare, focusing on plans to achieve ‘greener’ surgery in the future. She says that enthusiastic champions will be vital to driving improvement, going forward, and outlines some of the key strategies that could help contribute towards a Net Zero NHS.
Understanding that the health of the planet and the health of its populations are closely linked is a realisation we are beginning to come to terms with. Previous considerations in recent articles in this journal have indicated that there is a great deal of work to do, if we are to contribute effectively to a Net Zero NHS. We are obliged by law to respond to the challenge by ensuring that, by 2040, we have achieved Net Zero for the emissions that the NHS controls directly and, by 2045, Net Zero for the emissions that the NHS has the ability to influence. It is said that NHS staff overwhelmingly support a greener NHS – almost nine in ten support the Net Zero ambition. Since 2010, the NHS has cut its carbon emissions by 30%. Since the publication of the report,
‘Delivering a Net Zero NHS’ and strategy in 2020,1
good progress has been made. The NHS has performed the first Net Zero delivery for surgery and has launched the first Net Zero plan for the ambulance sector, embedding the
response to climate change into the governance and strategy of every Trust. The government has invested £550m in energy efficiency and renewable energy, as part of the government’s public sector decarbonisation scheme. The aim of the report is ambitious, and
includes: l Delivering care closer to home, avoiding the carbon cost of travelling.
l Programmes to avoid less appropriate procedures and linked carbon emissions.
l Switching from disposable to reusable equipment.
l Using technologies to avoid plastics in medicine supply.
l Working with pharmaceutical companies to reduce emissions from high carbon medicines, such as inhalers and anaesthetic gases.
Looking into the future, what can we expect from different elements of healthcare delivery and its green agenda? Each Trust and Integrated
Care Board has had to produce a three-year strategy, known as a Green Plan, which should set out its objectives, aims and delivery plans for carbon reduction. Each Trust board is required to have a ‘Net Zero lead’ to oversee the delivery of the plan.
Textiles in surgery One of the interesting challenges for Trusts with a surgical service is whether to switch away from single use disposable gowns and drapes, used in every procedure. They create mountains of waste, much of which has to be paid for to be incinerated, as they are likely to be contaminated by blood or body fluids. The benefits of single use drapes and gowns
are that there is no possibility of microbial contamination to the staff and patient, or any risk of surgical site infection. So, is there a safe reusable textile that can be washed and returned to use? There are two systems which might be of interest to Trusts. One is the option to rent packed and sterilised gowns and drapes, as well as tray wraps. The company which provides this service (and there is only one), states on its website that: l Reusable gowns have up to 69% less global warming potential than disposables.
l Reusable gowns use up to 66% less energy resources than disposables.
l Reusable gowns use up to 61% less water than disposables.
l Reusable gowns generate up to 84% less clinical waste than disposables.
l Reusable gowns reduce environmental emissions and offer greater carbon savings.
Life cycle assessments can be processed for 75 washes for each gown. They meet the EN standard 13795, for protection of the user, durability, fluid repellence and strength. The final option for Trusts making decisions about single use or reusable textiles for use in surgery is to re-negotiate the laundry contract.
August 2024 I
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