The Climate Change Summit: Solutions to Deliver a Net-Zero NHS
Coming just in time to fall in line with COP26 we hosted two webinars to discuss the challenges and solutions to the NHS’s climate effects. The first event of the day ‘The Climate Change Summit: Challenges in Delivering a Net-Zero NHS’ invited NHS professionals to discuss issues face on their sustainability journey.
For our second event of the day, we invited industry professionals to offer advice as well as talk about the new and innovative products and services available to help combat the issues raised by NHS professionals within the morning webinar.
Becky Jones, CSR Manager, gbpartnerships
Our first speaker of the day, Becky Jones, CSR Manager of gbpartnerships discussed the importance of policy development within a sustainability journey.
“We are in a climate crisis. It’s not something that we need to plan for. It’s not something that’s coming down the tracks in the future. It’s something that’s happening right now.”
“Scope one is the things you can directly control, scope two are things you can indirectly control such as the purchase of energy, and then scope three is around the supply chain, and 60% of the carbon footprint emitted by the NHS is held within the supply chain.”
Becky spoke about the fact that this problem has been building for a long time and even though we are now at a point of calling it an emergency, we are still not reacting accordingly. She then spoke about the NHS’s greenhouse gas control.
Becky explained how there are different targets to become net zero for each of these scopes as a part of the Greener NHS Programme-“Climate change isn't an individual responsibility. You can't have your section and only you do a great job, it has to be across everybody.”.
She explained how this can be put into practice with regards to medicines by comparing an MDI inhaler which has the equivalent carbon footprint of driving from Newcastle to Liverpool to a DTI inhaler which has a carbon footprint of only 4 miles. She spoke about how this shows the need to change people’s behaviours so that they naturally lean towards the more sustainable choice.
Becky then spoke about her work as Sustainability Lead for Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership.
“I’m the sustainability lead for Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership. One of the first thing we did was implement a strong governance framework and then around that we’ve started to develop our sustainability framework and processes.”
She explained their focus on sustainability, social value and creating a lasting impact on the existing estate.
“15% of the total NHS carbon footprint is from the acute estate and that’s just massive.”
“Yes, we are in a mess, but there is hope. There’s always hope for us to move on. And when considering your sustainability plan, you’ve got to think about the whole plan – planet, society and economy. If you plan properly with colleagues across the whole system, that’s the way that we’re going to ensure we consider all these elements. All of this together is what makes a difference.”
Julian Humphreys, Programme Manager, Community Health Partnerships
Our second speaker, Julian Humphreys, Programme Manager at Community Health Partnerships gave us some insight into a sustainable health centre facility programme they recently completed in Coventry, by CHP. The build of which took three years to complete, from approval of outline Business case.
Julian explained the initial journey from design to completion and how they recently achieved Passivhaus certification for the building.
“Just earlier this month, we received the formal Passivhaus certification and accreditation for the build which makes it the first passive healthcare facility in the UK.”
He spoke about how the initial capital cost was greater than what would be expected for a usual facility build, but that it is important to consider the buildings lifespan costs. “The initial capital costs for the Foleshill building is probably about 15-16% over what a traditionally built facility would be. We can't just look at its immediate capital cost today. We need to look at the lifecycle, the whole life cost of the building and the activity, the ownership of that asset.”
He spoke about the recent inflation in energy prices and how this will be less of a problem for the Foleshill building. He explained that the breakeven point of the building will come much sooner than that of a normal facility.
“I should add, there are no fossil fuels in Foleshill, there is no gas, all electricity is all sourced from Green suppliers. And you can’t see from the photograph behind me but there are PV panels on the roof as well.”
“The headline is: Is it the greenest healthcare building in the UK?
Yes, we believe it is. It is VERY close to net-zero”
Download Becky and Julien’s presentation here.
Nigel Codman, Director NovaLoo Ltd
“Our biggest aim is to reduce water use and wastage.”
Our final speaker for the second webinar was Nigel Codman, Director of Novaloo. Nigel spoke about the varying sustainability and health aspects that must be considered within NHS facility bathrooms.
He explained how unnecessarily high usages of water within bathrooms can drastically increase carbon emissions and talked the audience through testing they had undertaken at an NHS facility which allowed them to realise that they were utilising approximately 1,500 litres of water daily from just one bathroom block.
“Our systems can reduce water used in a single flush from between 6-7 litres to only 1.5. A reduction of 84%. This is hugely important to creating more sustainable buildings.”
“United Nations are predicting there will be a 40% shortfall in global water supply in 2030. That is now only nine years away.”
He spoke about the threats we all face in upcoming years if water usage isn’t focussed on more within sustainability plans.
Nigel also spoke about how the increase in instruction to wash your hands more often during the pandemic has increased water usage by 25%, expected to raise to as high as 55% over time.
Finally, Nigel spoke about the health implications that traditional toilet methods can have. An ever-increasing concern within the NHS with the raising threat of future pandemics.
You can download Nigel’s slides here. If you are interested in speaking with Nigel further on this subject, you can contact him here.
This webinar discusses potential solutions the NHS can utilise to drive forward their sustainability agenda. Examining alternatives and enacting change within our NHS will require a collaborative approach and the exchange of ideas. If you would like more information, please contact us.