University Hospitals Sussex is one of five healthcare trusts across England that have come together to form the Circular Economy Healthcare Alliance, demonstrating their commitment to a greener and more sustainable NHS.
Together with University College London Hospitals (UCLH), Cambridge University Hospitals, Imperial College Healthcare and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, the trusts outline their intentions to help reduce waste and carbon emissions. In a joint statement, they declared:
“As part of our commitment to sustainability, our collaborative group of NHS trusts aims to reduce single-use medical equipment and consumables, reusing wherever it is clinically feasible and appropriate to do so. This will be reflected in our evaluation criteria for selecting products and suppliers through the procurement process, and through building skills, knowledge, and processes in our Trust to enable this transition.”
The alliance is spearheaded by Professor Mahmood Bhutta, a Consultant Ear Nose and Throat (ENT) Surgeon and Clinical Lead for Environmental Sustainability at University Hospitals Sussex. He is also Professor of Sustainable Healthcare at Brighton and Sussex Medical School.
He said: “The NHS in England generates a staggering 440 tonnes of medical waste every day. While discarding items has become commonplace, our research and analysis reveals that this is often unnecessary and perpetuated by misconceptions about infection risk."By forming this alliance, we advocate for a shift towards using reusable products whenever safe to do so, and will always use suppliers that value sustainability. We encourage others in the NHS to join us."
There are three key areas of change that the alliance is focusing on. These include: not using items when they are not needed, using reusable items rather than single use wherever possible and safe to do so, and ensuring end-of-life items are returned for remanufacture or recycling where possible.
Joe Burton is the Sustainability Transformation Project Lead at UCLH. He said: “At UCLH we are passionate about reducing our use of single-use items, as outlined in our net zero strategy Critical Care for Our Climate. Our ambition is that this alliance signals to suppliers a shared desire to change the way that trusts procure single-use items in favour of reusables, supporting the national objective for the NHS to be net zero by 2045. We have multiple projects underway at UCLH to reduce our use of single-use items and continue to share our progress with the alliance.”
Carin Charlton is the Director of Capital, Estates and Facilities Management and Net-zero Lead at Cambridge University Hospitals. She said: “The circular economy is front and centre in our approach to environmental sustainability and climate-safe healthcare here at CUH.
“We have committed in our corporate strategy to tackling the climate emergency, and the environment is central in deciding what and how we consume: less waste and more reuse, repair and reprocessing.”
Dr Gareth Thompson is the Sustainability Clinical and Innovation Lead at Imperial College Healthcare. He said: "Our health is dependent on the health of nature and the planet. The culture of single-use disposables in healthcare is creating ever greater volumes of waste, which if left unchecked will ironically harm nature and harm our health and the health of future generations.
“The only way to reduce this waste while also delivering world-class healthcare is to create a circular economy which includes re-introducing reusables so that waste is not wasted, and instead becomes a resource that can be used again."
Virginia Massaro is the Chief Financial Officer and Sustainability Lead at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. She said: “Delivering high-quality sustainable healthcare to our patients protects the natural world and improves the health of our local communities. As an industry, healthcare providers see first-hand the effects of climate change; sometimes creeping symptoms, sometimes life-changing events. This alliance signals a bold move in the right direction, supporting our journey towards net zero.”
The procurement process plays a big part in what products the NHS choose to use. This is often the first step in choosing reusable items and those that are less harmful to the environment.
Keith Rowley is the Chief Officer for Healthcare Supply Chain Association. He said: “HSCA has more than 4,000 members across NHS Procurement and Supply chain, who are committed to meeting NHS Net Zero ambitions. We are therefore delighted to see these five Trusts going the next step to make this become real, by not only making commitment to ‘reduce and re-use’ but embedding this in their procurement process and providing the skills training to make this happen.”
Lord Phillip Hunt is the Patron of Healthcare Supply Chain association. He added: “It’s great to see these Trusts lighting the way in the challenging but essential journey towards NHS net zero. In committing to ‘reduce and re-use’ and providing the process to make it a reality they have set a path for others to follow.”
Other trusts are welcomed and encouraged to join the alliance and work on this mission.
For more information about the alliance visit the sustainability webpages of the BSMS website below.
Find out more here >
Download the policy brief for reducing the environmental impact of medical devices adopted for use in the NHS below.
Download the policy brief here >