Saving Lives,

Saving Money,

Securing the Future

Sustainability, health and the NHS

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Acknowledgements

• This presentation has been prepared by the

NHS Sustainable Development Unit and

adapted by the East Midlands NHS

Sustainable Development lead for

presentation to the East Midlands Evidence

and Innovation event focussing on Food and

Health.

1. What is sustainability?

2. Why is it important?

3. What can I do to make a difference -

at home and at work?

Today we will be exploring…

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“Meeting our needs today without compromising the

ability of others to meet their needs tomorrow…”

What is Sustainability?

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5 Barbier, 1987

Sustainability – Striking the Balance

Did you know?

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If everyone on the planet had the same

wasteful lifestyles and used as much energy

as we do in the UK we would need THREE

EARTHS to provide enough resources. We

are living way beyond our means

Why is sustainability important…?

1) It improves Health

2) It saves Money

3) The NHS can Make a Difference

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Did you know?

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The NHS has to reduce its carbon emissions

by 10% by 2015 to help meet the Climate

Change Act (2008) target of 80% by 2050.

How will you help deliver this?

Health

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Although climate change can cause illness and death directly...

…there are MUCH greater health risks through…

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Health

Health co-benefits: What is good for health is good for the

environment…

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Health

NHS carbon

footprint 1 17%

Building

energy

use 24% Procurement

59%

1 England. NHS Sustainable Development Unit 2010 15

21 million tonnes CO2e

Did you know?

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The Government’s Carbon Reduction

Commitment (CRC) scheme requires many NHS

organisations to participate in an “energy league”.

Good performers will get a bonus while poor

performers will lose money.

Saving carbon will save the Trust money that

can be reinvested in delivering services!

1) 21 million tonnes of CO2e is the same as some medium

sized countries (e.g. Northern Ireland and Portugal)

TRUE

2) The biggest chunk of procurement emissions is the

manufacture of medical devices

FALSE

3) The NHS is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in

Europe

TRUE

4) 1 in 20 journeys on UK roads are health related

TRUE

Can we make a difference?

True or False?

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• NHS East Midlands Board paper embedding Sustainable Development into the NHS

• the Board level sponsor for Sustainable Development work is Sir Neil Mackay – Chief Executive and David Walker – for Public Health

• Helen Ross – the East Midlands NHS Sustainable Development lead

• The East Mdlands NHS Sustainable Development Network

• The East Midlands NHS Carbon Reduction Project – 1 million tonnes of CO2e

– adoption of an East Midlands NHS Food Standard – being developed and trialled in conjunction with the Soil Association and the Platform.

East Midlands

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What can I do?

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Is that face to face meeting really necessary?

Reduce travel!

If teleconferencing replaced

5% of business miles travelled,

the NHS (England) would save

over £13.9 million each year

What can I do?

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Think about everything you use in your job and the amount of

things you throw away: which of them could be used better,

reused or recycled?

Reduce, reuse and recycle!

The NHS spends £20 billion every

year on buying goods and services

What can I do?

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When you left your house this morning did you

leave the taps running and the lights and TV on?

Turn it off!

If every Trust cut their energy bill by

5% the NHS in England would save

around £20 million per year.

What Can I do? • Join the East Midlands NHS Sustainable

Development network

• Support the development and roll out of the

EM NHS Carbon Reduction Project

• Support NHS organisations

– To adopt the East Midlands NHS Sustainable Food

Standard.

– With their NHS Forest projects

Why Sustainable Food?

• Good food helps patients recover from illness.

• Red meat is a major source of saturated fat intake

• the NHS has a responsibility to inform the public about healthy eating and to consider the impact of the food that it buys and serves on its premises.

• UK Food sector emits around 33 mt of CO2 pa

• Global livestock activities contribute to around 18% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, 4% more than transport1

• The NHS Sustainable Development Unit proposes a shift to use more seasonal food, more local food, and more use of sustainable and nutritionally valuable produce such as sustainably sourced fish.

Contact details

• Helen Ross – helen.ross5@nhs.net

East Midlands NHS Sustainable Development

lead

• http://www.eastmidlands.nhs.uk/partners/sust

ainability/?locale=en

Others have been there before you….

When the winds of change blow, some people

build walls and others build windmills (Chinese proverb)

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