Delivering a net zero NHS
The situation
The climate emergency is also a health emergency and unbated it will disrupt care and affect patients at every stage of their lives with poor environmental health contributing to numerous health conditions.
In response to this threat, in October 2020 the NHS became the world’s first health service to commit to reaching carbon net zero. While the targets are ambitious, they remain realistic and achievable. In order to deliver them we need both immediate action and a longer-term commitment to continuous monitoring, evaluation and innovation.
Health Innovation East is dedicated to supporting the NHS achieve its goal to ensure a healthier, safer future for everyone.
Delivering a net zero National Health Service report
Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service sets out the considerable advances the NHS has already made in improving our carbon footprint and reducing the environmental impact of NHS services and it lays out the direction, scale and pace of change to increase level of ambition over time.
You can read Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service from Greener NHS here.
Our services
Achieving net zero depends on innovation and collaboration. The Health Innovation Network acts as a pillar in the development and uptake of technologies and best practices designed to reduce emissions in healthcare.
Health Innovation East can support organisations to understand the procurement roadmap for suppliers to access the NHS market, including to gain understanding of policy levers, requirements and knowledge of how net zero and sustainability and healthcare improvement are intrinsically linked.
Improving cold chain with BioPCM®- platform based Apollo™ Smart Panels
Health Innovation East worked alongside Phase Change Solutions to evaluate the effectiveness of Apollo™ Smart Panels at maintaining an acceptable temperature range in pharmacy fridges in the event of a cold chain breach (e.g. a prolonged power outage).
To test the Apollo™ Smart Panel in a real-world setting, a trial was hosted in three GP surgeries within the Suffolk Primary Care Network (PCN) – Guildhall Surgery, Glemsford Surgery and Long Melford Practice. Health Innovation East conducted a series of 12 test cycles with two identical fridges (a test fridge and a control fridge) in each of the GP surgeries to simulate a prolonged power outage in a primary care setting. The test fridge was fitted with five Apollo™ Smart Panels whereas the control fridge remained empty. In each test cycle (12 cycles) the fridges were simultaneously switched off for a 24-hour period.
Results show that the test fridges fitted with the five Apollo™ Smart Panels were able to maintain their temperature more effectively than their matched control fridge (without the panels). The fridges equipped with the Apollo™ Smart Panels took an average of seven hours longer than the control fridge (in the bottom shelf) to breach a threshold of 8°C.
Our partnership with CarbonTRACC
Health Innovation East have established a strategic partnership with CarbonTRACC to support innovators in implementing effective strategies to reduce their carbon footprint and mitigate the impact of climate change.
CarbonTRACC provides invaluable technical expertise and extensive knowledge in greenhouse gas (GHG) accounting and has a proven track record of training on GHG accounting and reducing and verifying GHG emissions in conformance with ISO standards.
Through this partnership, we aim to empower innovators in their ambitions to meet the NHS’s net zero targets in a number of ways:
- Understand their carbon footprint.
- Identify opportunities to reduce their carbon footprint.
- Develop and implement a carbon reduction plan
- Provide a bespoke consultancy services
Submit your innovation
If you have an innovation that could help the NHS reach its sustainability target fill in the form below. This will help us understand the benefits of your innovation, your progress to date and where we could help you.
Health Innovation Network resources
Our unique role working with industry, academia and the health and care system in regional and national settings puts us in the perfect position to support the drive for sustainability at every level.
The Health Innovation Network acts as a pillar in the development and uptake of technologies and best practices designed to reduce emissions in healthcare. These resources will help you to understand what you need to consider when working towards net zero.
Read our toolkit which covers what you need to consider when engaging with the NHS in environmental sustainability and in it’s aim to be the world’s first net zero national health service.
Access here
Health Innovation Kent Surrey Sussex and Health Innovation Oxford and Thames Valley have produced a guide to help innovators working with the NHS towards its net zero ambitions.
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