Net Zero Mental Health Care Webinar Series

Innovations in developing low carbon treatments and care settings

Speakers: Hertfordshire and Birmingham

In this webinar we will be showcasing examples of carbon reduction. Hertfordshire Partnership NHS Foundation Trust will be discussing the benefits of the medication rationalization and de-prescribing programme that has been rolled out across dementia inpatient wards. Neil Cross, Corporate Property and Sustainability Manager, will be talking about Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust's work on food waste reduction. 

Hertfordshire: My name is Dr Bharat Velani. I grew up in north London and undertook my medical training at University College London. I then completed my core training in Psychiatry Hertfordshire, which is where I carried out the work I am going to talk about today. I am now working as an ST4 Psychiatrist in North Central London under the dual old age and general adult training scheme. 

I completed my work jointly with the Trust sustainability representative, Dr Katherine Witter. Overprescribing and polypharmacy is a global problem with a negative environmental impact and a huge challenge to overcome. My area of interest is medication deprescribing, which I am passionate about because it underpins all four of the core ethical values of practicing medicine: beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy and justice.  Particularly relevant here is the principle of “justice” – which refers to the fair and equitable distribution of healthcare. If sustainability is not factored in to healthcare and prescribing decisions, ultimately the system will eventually fail in providing an equal service for all. That is why research into and development of deprescribing initiatives is key to our future healthcare.

Find out more and register here.