Sustainable Healthcare
and managerial decisions and promoting eco-friendly initiatives within surgical theatres across NHS Scotland. It advocates for introducing achievable actions which will not only reduce the environmental impact of theatres but also improve both the patient and staff experience.
Additionally – and I believe most fundamentally – the programme urges collaboration between theatre colleagues and senior management to consider innovation opportunities, including a change in clinical practice, reduction in energy use or waste, or identification of a device, instrument or piece of equipment that could be improved to become more sustainable. The Green Theatres team is also working with
NHS Scotland Assure and Scottish Government colleagues to set up trials of reusable gowns with just one estimated to be equal in waste to 70 single use gowns. The Golden Jubilee University National Hospital is committed to actioning sustainable change and says it is aiming to become the greenest hospital in the country. Certainly, during a five-month trial, its orthopaedic surgeons reduced the carbon costs associated with robotic-assisted total knee replacement surgery by 0.39kg per case by moving 16 rarely used instruments to a standby conversion tray. Pioneering staff at the Golden Jubilee also
recently announced their role in co-designing biodegradable, reusable theatre caps made from sustainable plant-based material as part of a research project led by the University of Strathclyde and Heriot-Watt University. The project primarily aims to reduce waste
created by the 800,000 single-use theatre cap products – which may take up to 300 years to decompose – disposed of annually by
Scottish hospitals, demonstrating the power of innovation-driven collaboration for sustainable design, as well as the potential for its plant- based fibre design to be further rolled out across the country. Carole Anderson, director of transformation,
strategy, planning and performance at the Golden Jubilee, said the hospital and its staff were “proud to be at the forefront of this sustainable innovation in healthcare.” She added: “These new theatre caps align with our commitment to reducing our environmental impact and also enhance our ability to provide safe and high-quality patient care.” During a visit to the hospital in September
to learn about its pioneering work on the National Green Theatres Programme, Health Secretary Neil Gray said: “The Golden Jubilee University National Hospital is Scotland’s flagship hospital for elective and specialist care but also deserves praise for being at the forefront of sustainability within NHS Scotland. “NHS Scotland overall needs to reduce waste
and promote the circular economy to help limit the impact of health care on the environment. The Green Theatres Programme is a key part of the effort to meet net zero targets for NHS Scotland.” InnoScot Health also continues to champion and encourage greener workforce innovation, recently helping to develop a breakthrough with midwives working at St John’s Hospital in Livingston which aids skin-to-skin contact for babies delivered by Caesarean section. Through the use of upcycled staff fleeces as a covering material altered onto new scrubs, birthing partners are able to keep newborns warm while the surgical team focus on the mum and the completion of the procedure. Alongside NHS Lothian’s Research and Development team, InnoScot Health helped
protect and register the design, meaning that Cozy Cuddle Scrubs (by Stacey) are now well placed to become more widely available through manufacturing partners. With so many projects coming to fruition, there
is much to be proud of and so much innovation potential in the drive towards a net zero NHS Scotland. We want to inspire and encourage that vital push as much as possible by lending our support to the healthcare workforce – and who better to deliver net zero than the people who are closest to the issues and can see first-hand how emissions-producing processes are contributing to climate change? InnoScot Health’s sustainability call aims to
inspire health and social care professionals to come forward with their ideas for greener ways of working that can help the health service adapt and strengthen. The innovation call is open to all staff regardless of role – clinical, administrative, estates – across every NHS board in Scotland. Our hope is that the NHS workforce can be agents of positive environmental change.
CSJ Visit:
https://innoscot.com/sustainability-call
About the author
Frances Ramsay has been working within the health service since leaving school when she started her nurse training qualifying in 1991. Her background is within acute care and she has experience within both NHS Scotland and England having worked in the John Radcliffe teaching hospital in Oxford, UK. Frances joined the medical device industry as a clinical nurse specialist working in an education capacity, both advising on and helping research projects. Her interest in developing products and working closely with key clinical leaders has since helped to commercialise products. Most recently, Frances has worked as innovation manager at InnoScot Health. InnoScot Health works in partnership with NHS Scotland to identify, protect, develop and commercialise healthcare innovations to improve patient care.
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