This foundation course offers an overview of the relationship between human health and the climate and ecological crises, with a focus on respiratory health. It demonstrates how the health system is vulnerable to, but also contributes to, climate change and ecological degradation, examines the specific contribution of inhalers to carbon emissions and other environmental impacts and explores how to develop a more sustainable approach to respiratory healthcare whilst maintaining or improving quality of care.
The course also highlights the leadership role healthcare staff can play in the transformation towards a system that works for all, within planetary boundaries.
This course is endorsed by 
Please select one date:
- Workshop: Thursday 6 February 2025 [13.00-17.00 GMT]
If you have booked on a course click here for access.
Pricing structure: £100 - £250 + VAT
Learning Objectives
By the end of the course you will be able to:
- Describe the risks the global environmental crisis presents to human health and healthcare systems.
- Describe the contribution of the health sector, particularly respiratory care, to the global environmental crisis.
- Understand the basic principles of climate literacy.
- Understand how sustainability can help to address existing challenges in the healthcare system.
- Apply the principles of sustainability to respiratory care.
- Plan a project to improve the sustainability of healthcare in your workplace.
Course Structure
The course is divided in to three parts
Part I. Self-study online – Opening 4 weeks prior to the workshop this consists of 6 hrs of interactive online materials, presented in bite-sized chunks, covering all course content including background, theory, and case studies, with optional links to further information. Discussion points throughout the module allow you to reflect on your learning and start to get to know fellow participants and their areas of interest and work. At the end of the module, you are invited to sketch out a plan for a sustainability project you might want to undertake, in preparation for the workshop discussions. You will have access for 6 months after the workshop date. You can see a table of contents for the self study materials here.
Part II. Live workshop online – based largely around small group discussion this 4-hour virtual workshop, aims to consolidate your understanding of the course materials, build networks with colleagues and help you to translate your learning into implementation of a respiratory project in your area of work.
Part III. Mentoring – on completion of parts 1 and 2 you are invited to attend our online Sustainable Healthcare Cafés. The 1 hour cafes occur regularly throughout the year and offer A friendly, informal setting in which to:
- Get inspiration and support for sustainability projects from peers and CSH staff
- Make connections with others interested in sustainability both across and within specialities.
You are welcome to continue attending Cafes as many times as you wish. Upcoming dates are available here and will also be emailed out to you with your certificate of completion after the workshop.
Pricing Structure
Book a course with peace of mind: We realise that healthcare workers may have to change their plans at short notice. If you are unable to attend a workshop, we can offer you a workshop at a later date for no charge. We can also offer a refund as long as you cancel before the course opens for self-study, which is 4 weeks before the workshop. There will be an admin fee of £30 for refunds.
Courses are facilitated by experts drawn from the faculty below:
Dr Hayley Pinto, Education and Training Lead
Hayley Pinto is a consultant addiction psychiatrist who leads our Net Zero Leadership training and sustainable healthcare courses. Hayley has a degree in psychology and completed general practice training before pursuing a career in psychiatry. She has 30 years’ clinical and teaching experience in the NHS and publicly funded services and is a member of Health for XR, Psych Declares and a speak for Greenpeace UK.
Nua
la Hampson, Pharmacy Lead and Senior Educator
Nuala Hampson is a pharmacist and educator. She sets strategy for sustainable pharmacy initiatives and facilitates the Net Zero Leadership training and sustainable healthcare courses. Nuala has over 20 years’ experience of clinical pharmacy in primary care and over 15 years’ experience in postgraduate pharmacy education. She is a member of Pharmacy Declares, a group of climate-conscious pharmacy professionals in the UK and joint lead of the Greener Primary Care Pharmacy Association. She co-chairs the national Sustainability in Pharmacy Education group.
Dr 
Tamsin Ellis
Tamsin is a GP in London who helped design and write the sustainable primary care course. She is a director and co-chair of Greener Practice (the UK’s primary care sustainability network). She has previously worked as a primary care net zero clinical lead for North Central London Integrated Care System (NCL ICS) and has worked with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), Health Education England (HEE) and Greener Practice to deliver primary care planetary health training. She works as an associate at the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare. https://twitter.com/climate_gp
Dr Kathleen Leedham-Green
Kay is a doctor working within medical education, mostly primary care. She supported the introduction of sustainability learning outcomes into our core curriculum at KCL through a global health webinar on climate change and a sustability impact assessment element to quality improvement projects. She also taught on the social and behavioural determinants of health including a set of e-learning modules on patient-centred approaches to addressing obesity in a consultation. At Imperial she introduced environmentally informed medicine into their social accountability agenda and quality improvement modules. She also supports faculty development in education and scholarship, leading the Clinical Teaching Fellow faculty development at Imperial College and teaches on the masters in clinical education at KCL.
Dr Grace Singleton
Grace is a GP registrar based in the North East of England. She graduated from Glasgow University in 2012 and after initially training in general medicine moved to the GP training scheme in 2018. She is a Green Champion for the Faculty of Sustainable Healthcare in the North East and is a co-chair of Greener Practice North East.
"Inspirational and reassuring to hear everyone else’s actions and sense of urgency. On a practical level, I feel more knowledgeable on where to aim my work for greater impact and have been directed towards lots of useful information sources and initiatives"