Introducing the teams that have joined this years Green Surgery Challenge!
CSH is pleased to introduce the teams that were chosen to take part in this year's Green Surgery Challenge. These teams have devised project ideas to make their surgical practice more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable, whilst maintaining or improving standards of clinical care.
Team 1:
Peter Labib, Colorectal Surgery Trainee (ST7) and Aditya Kanwar, Consultant General Surgeon at Derriford Hospital, Plymouth, surveyed the surgical department and identified the need for the instrument set for laparoscopic appendectomies to be streamlined by reducing the number of single use items added into the reusable set and switching to reusable ports.
Team 2:
Aaron Quyn, Associate Professor of Surgery at the University of Leeds, and Adam Peckham-Cooper Consultant Surgeon at Leeds Teaching Hospital Trust, have decided to devise a ‘green laparoscopic appendicectomy pathway’, starting by mapping the whole pathway and identifying ways of reducing the carbon footprint, including eliminating unnecessary urinary catheterisation. Another arm to their project is modelling a proposed new pathway using a novel instrument that was devised for the low income countries that eliminates the need for carbon dioxide use to insufflate the abdomen.
Team 3: 
Mansoor Khan, Honorary Clinical Professor of Trauma Surgery, and Shameen Jaunoo, Consultant Oesophogastric Surgeon at Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals Trust will be reviewing ways to omit unnecessary group and save tests as part of the pre-operative workup for patients undergoing routine day-case procedures such as hernia repairs and laparoscopic cholecystectomy. This will reduce patient travel, procurement and laboratory services.
Team 4: 
Working in upper limb surgery, Patrick Garfjeld Roberts, Trauma and Orthopaedic Registrar, and Chris Little, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, are working to reduce the environmental impact of conventional laundering of surgical wear focussing on scrubs. They are testing switching to scrubs made of natural fibres and using the company OxWash to launder the scrubs, employing a novel method using ozone in a process that uses reduced water and energy. The energy is derived partly from solar panels, and the laundry will be picked up from and delivered back to the hospital by bicycle.
Team 5: 
Working in hand surgery, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeons Preetham Kodumuri (Wrexham Maelor Hospital) and Prash Jesudason, Consultant Orthopaedic Surgeon at Ysbyty Gwynedd, have mapped the process of carpal tunnel decompression and identified ways to reduce the environmental impact, including streamlining the instrument set and carrying out the procedure outside of theatres.
Team 6:
Jasmine Winter Beatty and Jonathan Gan, Clinical research fellows at Imperial College London NHS Trust, will be reviewing the social, environmental and financial savings of two changes: 1) converting hernia repairs conducted under general anaesthesia (GA) to local anaesthetic (LA) and 2) switching from disposable to reusable gowns.
After the 10 week quality improvement project period, each team will produce a report covering the approach, context, results, impact and key learning points for their Green Surgery Challenge Project.
Juding and Awards Ceremony
Save the date for the upcoming judging and awards ceremony 4th November 2021, where each team will showcase their Green Surgery Challenge project and achievements, and judges will give feedback on innovation, impact and generalisability/ transferability.
The Green Surgery Challenge is brought to you by the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, supported by Gold Funders and Sponsors NIHR MedTech Co-operative in Surgical Technologies and Elemental Healthcare, Silver Sponsors Royal College of Surgeons England and Royal College of Surgeons Edinburgh, Bronze Sponsors the AHSN Network, Vanguard Medical Remanufacturing, and Bowa Medical UK, and partners, the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition, the Association for Perioperative Practice, and Brighton and Sussex Medical School.
Learn more about the Green Surgery Challenge, here.