NHS managers urged to meet carbon reduction targets

Feb. 2, 2011 - PRLog -- NHS Managers in the UK will be handed a number of measures they need to take to meet the government's carbon reduction targets, which involves cuttings its carbon emissions by 10% by 2015. This is part of the new “Vision for Sustainable Health: A Route Map” to be set out today. Currently, the NHS produces nearly as much carbon dioxide annually as Croatia.

Under the new plans on sustainable health, the NHS will have to change its focus from curing sickness to becoming a "preventative and tailor-made wellbeing service", taking into account the environmental costs of decisions, as well as their financial implications.

A number of primary care trusts and treatment centres have already begun taking unusual steps to cut their carbon emissions in ways that will also result in better outcomes for patients. At one GP practice in London, older patients with leg ulcers are sent to flower arranging classes - improving their mobility and helping them heal faster, saving on carbon emissions for travel to hospitals.

Staff training programmes are also encouraging NHS staff to recycle correctly, which is helping several trusts to save money. They are wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds paying for expensive clinical waste disposal for bins stuffed with normal rubbish.

Also, more hospital meals will be vegetarian and more food will be sourced from local farms throughout the country. NHS Managers are being encouraged to consider installing solar panels and wind turbines or incorporating features such as "green roofs" into new buildings.

It is not clear whether GP consortiums will be given responsibility for meeting carbon reduction targets at the same time as they are handed the NHS purse strings.

Simon Burns, the minister of state for health, said: "At a time when we are driving forward significant change to improve outcomes and meet the financial and practical challenges of increasing demand for our services, we have the opportunity to create a truly sustainable NHS."

But, the budgetary cuts being made by the government may do more to reduce the NHS carbon footprint than any other measure if operations are cancelled or hospitals are closed, without installing a single solar panel or wind turbine.

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