Clinical Practice: Key to Meeting the NHS's Energy Targets

The targets of the Climate Change Act are very challenging for the NHS, which means fundamental transformation of clinical practices will be required to meet them. Sustainability in the NHS has mostly been concerned with reducing energy use and has been led by non-clinical departments such as corporate and estates. But if the NHS is to meet the act’s target of an 80 per cent reduction in carbon emissions by 2050, then clinical practices will also have to be targeted as they make up most of the carbon footprint of the NHS.