The UK Green Surgery Project Report: Submit your case study by 28th February 2023

The Green Surgery Project is a Health Foundation-funded initiative facilitated by the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change (UKHACC) and supported by the Health Foundation, involving multiple key stakeholders from national institutions. The project is being led by UKHACC, Brighton & Sussex Medical School Sustainable Healthcare Group and the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare. 

"The Green Surgery report will be an evidence-based guide and recommendations on how to mitigate the carbon footprint associated with surgical practice" said Catherine Floyd, Specialties Lead “and what we need are real life examples of changes surgical teams are making to share good practice”

This report will be published in late 2023 and will deliver an evidence-based guide and recommendations on how to mitigate the carbon footprint associated with surgical practice, with the intention that the recommendations be distributed to all surgical teams and decision-makers with an influence on surgical care in the UK.

The scope of the project is to provide the health system with the tools required to change the impact of surgical care pathways by:

1. Reviewing and reporting on available evidence of surgical care and associated departments, identifying carbon hotspots in surgery, knowledge and infrastructure gaps, opportunities and barriers for change.
2. Producing a report and recommendations to enable a transition towards net zero surgery.
3. Disseminating the report, recommendations and supporting material to key stakeholders and surgical teams across the UK.
4. Developing a guide for implementation of the report recommendations, made up of commitments from stakeholders. 

As part of this process, we are currently seeking case studies that demonstrate successful implementation of measures designed to improve environmental sustainability of delivery of surgical care. Examples include: 

• Opportunities for public/preventative health, and patient empowerment. 
• Leaner surgical pathways (including optimising pre- and post-operative pathway,  opportunities for remote consultation).
• Reducing unnecessary equipment, investigations or imaging (where does not alter clinical outcome).
• Reducing operating theatre energy consumption.
• Low carbon alternative surgical products  e.g. reusable textiles and surgical equipment.
• Low carbon anaesthesia. 

All of the case studies received will be reviewed and some will be chosen to feature within the report. 

Submit your case study here before the 28th February 2023. 
You can provide your name and email in the form where indicated if you are happy to be contacted with any queries and so that we can attribute your contribution to you. Alternatively, leave blank if you prefer to submit anonymously. Likewise, complete the sections on Hospital and NHS Trust/Board if the relevant department is happy to be identified within the Green Surgery report. Please be careful not to include identifying information of colleagues or patients.

To help you share this infomation and proforma with your colleagues, a template email (to copy and paste) is available here.
If you would like further information or have any queries regarding submission, please contact:
Melissa Pegg, Fellow in Sustainable Surgery, UK Health Alliance on Climate Change at melissa.pegg@ukhealthalliance.org

Additionally, CSH would love to host your case studies in our Resource library and invites you to do so.