HEALTHCARE & SUS TAINABI L I T Y
Anaesthetic gas capture technology
The environmental impact of medical gases is becoming a critical area of focus for healthcare organisations. Operating theatres can reduce their environmental impact through the use of gas capture technology. Andy Goldney reports.
The next stage in reducing operating theatre carbon footprints has arrived, and it is all about sustainability innovation to develop a circular economy for inhaled anaesthesia (fig.1). The healthcare system in England is estimated to be responsible for 4-5% of the country’s overall carbon footprint,1
and
30% of the total public sector greenhouse gas emissions.2
Carbon dioxide emissions
from the National Health Service (NHS) in England total a greater amount than annual emissions from aircraft departing Heathrow airport.3
The UK was the first major economy in the world to pass legislation tackling the country’s contribution to climate change.4 The NHS committed to support the first climate change plan in 2008, with the goal of cutting carbon emissions by 80% by 2050, compared to a 1990 baseline.5 In August of 2019 NHS organisations in Manchester were the first to declare a “climate emergency” and committed to broad action to reduce carbon emissions and avert illnesses and disease.6 In January of 2020, NHS chief, Sir Simon Stevens, announced that the agency is implementing a three-step programme targeting healthcare-related emissions, which includes an expert panel charged with identifying a strategy to achieve “net zero”. Key components of that strategy will
be identifying technologies that support decreased waste and pollution, and increased energy efficiency.7
The NHS Long Term Plan calls for an intermediary goal
of a 51% reduction in the NHS carbon footprint by 2025, with 2% of that reduction resulting from transformed anaesthetic practices.8
Sustainability is more than environmental responsibility Sustainability refers to more than reductions in an organisation’s emissions and carbon footprint. Recycling materials and reducing consumption and waste have been the focus of intense improvement, but the concept of sustainability has greater depth and breadth than just environmental impact and resource conservation. Particularly in healthcare, sustainability means improving environmental practices while achieving viable, long-term gains in social and economic quality indicators. Ultimately,
Anaesthetic gas capture allows hospitals to efficiently collect and contain exhaled anaesthetic gases, preventing their escape into the air. This could reduce the NHS carbon footprint by at least 60,000 tonnes of CO2
per year one. MARCH 2021
sustainability must achieve improved patient care and public health without exhausting natural resources or causing serious environmental damage, while continuing to strive to increase financial, social, and environmental return on investment.9
The environmental impact of the operating theatre Green efforts are important in operating theatres in particular, where many environmentally unfriendly practices are falling out of favour with providers who seek to reduce waste in their own practice.10 Historically, operating theatres account for up to 60% of an organisation’s total supply costs; consume three to six times more energy per square foot than anywhere else in the facility; produce more than 30% of the facility’s waste; and garner up to 60% of the hospital’s revenue.11
Currently a significant number of surgical procedures use an inhaled anaesthetic agent. These molecules are not metabolised by the body and therefore the expired anaesthetic poses health issues for the theatre staff and for the environment. As a consequence, Anaesthetic Gas Scavenging Systems (AGSS) are necessary, these systems have
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