The NHS must act now to reduce its massive carbon footprint, Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, President of UK Faculty of Public Health (FPH), David Nicholson, NHS Chief Executive, David Pencheon, Director of the NHS Sustainable Development Unit, and Steve Barnett, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation write in a letter sent out to all NHS key decision-makers today.

Climate change is arguably the greatest public health challenge facing us in the 21st century. With a carbon footprint of over 18 million tonnes of CO2 - more than some large cities - the NHS is the UK public sector's biggest single carbon emitter. But in the joint-letter sent out to NHS managers today, the organisation is being told that with strong leadership and the right action it has the potential to make huge reductions and significant savings in lives and money.

To help the NHS become the leader of change - and meet and exceed the Government's targets on emissions - FPH, the NHS Sustainable Development Unit and the NHS Confederation have produced a new handbook with practical guidance for NHS decision-makers on reducing their organisation's carbon footprint.

The handbook, Sustaining a Healthy Future - Taking action on climate change (with a special focus on the NHS) has been endorsed by over 20 national organisations from across the health and environmental sectors. It sets out practical and realistic steps, from individual action plans to recycle and walk more, to checklists for integrating energy efficiency and other carbon-reduction measures into organisation-wide strategies and policies. The handbook's guidance makes it clear that sustainable management and working practices can be achieved across the NHS.

Professor Alan Maryon-Davis, FPH President, says:

"The NHS is ideally placed to promote health and wellbeing by leading the battle against climate change. Cutting carbon saves money for healthcare - and also helps save the planet's poorest families from a bleak future of droughts, flooding, food insecurity, migration and conflict.

"I urge all NHS managers to adopt Sustaining a Healthy Future as a basic guide to carbon reduction - and to share it with their teams and colleagues to inspire everyday action."

David Nicholson, NHS Chief Executive, says:

"The NHS is central to our society, touching almost every aspect of our lives. It therefore has a special responsibility to contribute to the climate change agenda. This handbook will help the NHS to live up to those responsibilities."

David Pencheon, Director of the NHS Sustainable Development Unit, says:

"The Sustainable Development Unit is focussed on helping the NHS become a leading sustainable and low carbon organisation. One of our key aims is for staff in the NHS to understand the important connection between health and climate change. Then, we want them to act on it. That action will benefit patients, professionals, the public and also the planet."

Steve Barnett, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, says:

"Our members increasingly understand that work to tackle climate change should be a part of their everyday work. A key part of reducing the NHS' carbon output depends on the skills, knowledge and delivery of staff and this handbook gives advice on how all parts of every NHS organisation can tackle one of the biggest challenges of our future.

"By including a carbon reduction strategy into corporate governance plans and encouraging partnership organisations to follow suit, NHS boards can play an important and necessary role in helping the health service reduce its carbon footprint as well as its costs."

Link to handbook

Source
UK Faculty of Public Health