eLfH Net Zero NHS

Thank you for taking part in the eLfH learning session Building a Net Zero NHS. If you're ready to learn more, here are a few ideas: 

Join one of our short courses

The Center for Sustainable Healthcare offers nine short courses on sustainability, health, and healthcare. The courses include key principles, case studies, and live workshops to share cross-specialty experience. They will help you initiate or develop a Green Plan, launch a quality improvement project, increase awareness of the climate crisis, and empower sustainable, long-term change.

Foundation-Level Courses:

Technical Courses:

Run a Sustainable Quality Improvement project

The SusQI framework is an innovative approach to holistically improve healthcare by assessing quality through environmental, social and financial impacts – these three factors combine to form the ‘triple bottom line’. By applying CSH’s four principles of sustainable healthcare, health professionals can respond to both ethical challenges and social inequalities, while also saving money. Successful outcomes have already been documented, as seen in the award-winning Green Ward Competitions which utilise this method. CSH offers a 3-part Sustainable Quality Improvement course and project resources.

Join a Sustainable Specialty peer network

The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare hosts and supports specialty networks in order to facilitate collaboration among communities of like-minded individuals working on sustainability issues in their clinical specialization or area of interest. Learn about upcoming events and resources, ask questions, and share ideas for sustainable healthcare in your field.

Ask your Trust or University to join the SusQI Academy

The Sustainability in Quality Improvement (SusQI) Academy provides CPD training and support to QI Leads for embeddding sustainability into QI education and practice in their organisation. Organisations may choose to enrol a number of key staff in the Academy to access CSH expert support. Membership is available to those working within health professions education and/or in quality improvement, service transformation and health service delivery.

Ask your Trust to run a Green Ward programme

The Green Ward Competition, an award-winning leadership and engagement programme, aims to reduce carbon emissions, improve patient care and staff experience all whilst saving money and transforming healthcare. Using the Sustainable Quality Improvement framework, CSH facilitators work with teams to develop their own sustainability project, which they then run and measure – this includes up to 6 x 90 minute bespoke and interactive online workshops for teams over 2 days. A cash prize is awarded to the team whose project has the biggest positive impact or potential to do so; and the highest quality projects are chosen and further spread through organisations with the support of CSH. 

Ask your Trust to set up a Sustainable Fellowship

CSH has already partnered with NHS bodies and specialty organisations to create ‘Sustainable Speciality Fellowships’, managing fellows and scholars from a range of disciplines including: nephrology, surgery, dentistry and psychiatry amongst others. These programmes combine research with support for local change, providing benefits for the fellows/scholars themselves, as well as patients, health services and the health professions. CSH provides support through training courses, workshops and supervision/project guidance for the fellowship programme; with fellows playing a strategic role in implementing sustainable practice in their area. Those who take up the role of a fellow or scholar benefit from CSH’s extensive network, which connects them to others undertaking related work, as well as transforming into future leaders of sustainability.

Join the NHS Forest

The NHS Forest is a national network of best practices for NHS sites that are committed to increasing the social and ecological value of their green space. With an initial focus of tree planting and bringing together NHS staff, patients and communities together, the project has expanded to include collaboration with healthcare organisations to open up green spaces and strengthen local community connections to them. With growing evidence linking green spaces to improved health and wellbeing, a range of programmes have been implemented across the sites including green health routes, bee healthy plant borders, therapeutic gardens, and workplace wellbeing spaces.

Volunteer with us

The Centre's work has been developed by both funded staff and exceptionally committed volunteers. Volunteers have joined from around the world, some for a few months and others for several years. These are some of the unique opportunities for volunteers: 

  • Collaborate with one of our project leads to maximize the impact of our specialty programmes 
  • Support one of our sustainable specialty fellows to inspire leadership and produce practical changes within the healthcare system
  • Manage one of our sustainability networks, identifying and sharing cutting-edge research and events in sustainable healthcare

External resources