NHS Sustainability Day 2024: How to take action as an individual, team or healthcare organisation

Monday, 8th July 2024, is dedicated to the NHS Sustainability Day of Action. This occasion highlights the NHS’s efforts towards a greener future and the crucial role of sustainability in health service and product decisions. It also offers a chance to learn about innovative strategies the NHS can adopt to deliver healthcare while reducing its environmental footprint.

The NHS has set a pioneering target to reach net zero for its direct carbon emissions by 2040 and for its indirect carbon emissions by 2045. Achieving this target requires the support of all healthcare professionals, as well as suppliers and partners. Over the past year, we have seen a growing number of NHS employees improve the sustainability of their practices, preserving resources for future generations while providing high-quality care. We would like to say thank you for encouraging other healthcare professionals and patients to engage in sustainable practices and for implementing initiatives that will have a substantial collective impact.

What is NHS Sustainability Day?

The annual NHS Sustainability Day of Action was established in 2013 to acknowledge and spread environmental and social good practices across the health sector through campaigns, events, and national awards.

Through this annual day, NHS and health professionals can showcase how they are driving sustainability whilst celebrating their achievements and engaging with staff, patients and visitors” – Sustainability Partnerships

Why is it important to put sustainability at the heart of the NHS?

The NHS alone accounts for approximately 5% of the UK’s carbon footprint and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions through climate change mitigation and adaptation is essential to decreasing health risks for both the environment and our communities.

In October 2020, the NHS became the world’s first national health system to make net zero commitments and develop clear goals and objectives. Although the public backs the NHS’s net zero ambition, addressing climate change is low down the public’s priorities for the NHS.

The NHS has the power and responsibility to influence action on a broader scale. Becoming a leader in environmental sustainability can demonstrate how a healthy and thriving environment can improve the wider determinants of health and support community development.

What sustainability initiatives did CSH implement throughout the first half of 2024?

This first half of the year has been incredibly busy for us and our teams.

The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (CSH) is partnering with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, the Royal College of Midwives, and the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition on a pioneering SBRI-funded project. This initiative aims to create quality improvement interventions that enhance the social and environmental sustainability of maternity care. More information here.
CSH is thrilled to announce that our project, “Medicine Waste in Care Homes: Reducing Social and Environmental Impact,” has secured funding from the Q Community after a competitive selection process. This funding will enable us to launch the initial phase of our project. By working with care home staff, general practitioners, and pharmacies, we aim to measure environmental impacts, reduce medicine waste, free up staff time, and develop sustainable improvement guidelines.
For more information and detailed project specifics, click here.
Just before the elections, CSH with the Queen’s Nursing Institute, proudly presented our joint Nursing and Midwifery Sustainability Manifesto. This comprehensive document outlines our vision for a climate-resilient, sustainable, equitable, and patient-centred healthcare system. We urge the incoming government to prioritise these critical changes and place sustainability at the core of the NHS.
CSH welcomed the landmark resolution on Climate Change and Health, adopted on 30 May 2024 by the World Health Assembly. Supported by 194 WHO member states, this resolution recognises climate change as a significant threat to public health. It outlines a framework to integrate healthcare into the climate change agenda, promoting climate-resilient and sustainable health systems.
CSH published a response to the NHS Constitution 10-year review. The NHS Constitution 10-year review offers a crucial chance to prioritise sustainability, equity, and health across the sector. The consultation process is essential to ensure the NHS meets its future sustainability obligations. The government proposes introducing a new NHS value, ‘environmental responsibilities,’ which aims to fulfil legislative commitments and improve resilience and efficiency – a principle we support. However, we believe this proposal is insufficient and that the current draft’s wording falsely suggests that environmental care conflicts with patient care. Read the full article here.

To find out more sustainability initiatives, browse through our Green Team Competition reports, and scholar case studies.

How can I get involved?

Through collaboration and idea-sharing we can work together towards a more sustainable NHS.

As an individual:

Join one of our courses in sustainability.
Join our NHS Forest Conference 2024. This year’s theme is ‘Healthy spaces: Integrating trees and green space into the NHS‘ and we’re delighted to have so many knowledgeable and highly experienced speakers. The free conference is on 4 October and will be taking place online and in person at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester.
Use a sustainable quality improvement approach to re-design pathways, processes and services.
Join a sustainable healthcare network to collaborate, find resources and events, and learn more.

As a team:

Your team has the ability to transform care by opting for low-carbon treatments and technologies where appropriate:
- Discuss with patients the environmental impact of different medication options e.g. the NICE patient decision-aid can help health professionals discuss with patients the benefits of switching to a lower-carbon inhaler and how to reduce the use of polluting anaesthetic gases like nitrous oxide or desflurane.
- Incorporate green social prescribing into practice, such as green walking.
Provide staff with access to green space at work, and sign up to plant trees. By signing up to plant trees, including the innovative Tiny Healthy Forests project delivered in collaboration with Earthwatch, healthcare sites can significantly enhance their green spaces for relaxation and recovery. Tree planting takes place in winter, but you can take action now and register your interest in bundles of trees (10-240 trees in a bundle), orchards and woodland creation projects.
Consider signing up for our growing network of NHS Forest sites.

As a trust/board:

Make a commitment to sustainability by having a clear Green Plan.
Build the workforce’s knowledge about sustainability and the NHS net zero ambitions. CSH offers a two-hour board level net zero leadership training, a thirty-minute Clinical Transformation for Net Zero presentation, as well as block booking discounts for organisations who wish to purchase places for staff to access our short courses in sustainability, health and healthcare.
Create a Sustainability Scholarship in your trust/board for a health professional to work on a sustainability project over a year with support from CSH.
Run a Green Team Competition to transform healthcare by cutting carbon, improving patient care and staff experience and saving money.