The University of Exeter has been awarded £6.5 million in funding to develop a UK-wide hub to help the NHS slash its carbon footprint.
The funding comes from two research bodies, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Overall, the two bodies will be awarding a total of £42 million across seven hubs, each tackling a different net zero challenge.
One of the plans to help decarbonise concerns the patient pathway for bladder cancer diagnosis and treatment. The Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) programme has examined patient pathways for diagnosis and treatment of bladder cancer, and has identified key opportunities to mitigate the environmental impact of this process. These include conducting more diagnostic assessments on the same day to prevent patients from travelling to hospital multiple times in the diagnostic process, increasing the number of tumor removal surgeries conducted as day case surgeries, cutting waste in operating theatres, and limiting use of anaesthetic gases that are harmful to the environment.
The GIRFT team will work with hospital teams to highlight the opportunities with the highest impact of reducing the carbon footprint of the bladder cancer pathway. The research teams estimate that 378 tonnes of CO2 equivalent could be saved across the NHS annually if hospitals delivered at least 80% of bladder tumor resections as day-case surgeries and around 237 tonnes of CO2 equivalent could be saved by carrying out multiple common diagnostic procedures on the same day.
They also estimate that around 397 tonnes of CO2 equivalent could be saved each year by eliminating unnecessary items from cystoscopy procedure rooms.
Ed Wilson, hub director and professor of health economics and health policy at the University of Exeter, said: “We’re delighted to receive this funding, which recognises our strong partnerships with the NHS, and our commitment to a greener, fairer and healthier society.
“We’ll be looking at a patient’s journey through the NHS and social care, finding where the carbon hotspots are and seeing what we can do to make them carbon neutral. This isn’t just about reducing travel and unnecessary waste, but about helping the NHS’ suppliers – the companies who make our drugs, medical devices and everyday items like swabs, sheets and hospital gowns – to redesign their processes to reduce carbon emissions.”
NHS looks to cut carbon emissions
The NHS has a legal obligation to hit net zero carbon emissions by 2045, towards which it has already made significant progress. The NHS has reduced the level of emissions that are directly within its control directly in line with its target to meet an 80% reduction in emissions from 1990 levels by 2030. However, emissions have actually increased across the NHS owing to travel to hospital by patients, waste and emissions from external companies that make the drugs, devices and supplies used by hospitals and care facilities.
Professor Lucy Chappell, chief scientific adviser at the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and chief executive officer of the NIHR said: “Climate change is a major threat to public health, both now and for future generations. These high-impact research hubs will contribute to protecting people’s health against the impact of climate change, realising the health benefits of a net zero transition and reducing health inequalities.”
This is not the first attempt the NHS has made to reduce its overall environmental impact. Last year, the UK government launched a £557 million funding package to help public sector buildings decarbonise, and much of this funding was awarded to NHS Trusts across the UK. South Tees NHS Foundation Trust, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust and Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust received a combined sum of over £69 million.
The latter of these received over £21 million to decarbonise three buildings at the Royal United Hospital in Bath through the installation of air source heat pumps, wall, loft and roof insulation, double glazing, LED lighting, building energy management system upgrades and heating pipework improvements.
