Topic

Green Ward Toolkit - Onboarding process for a route to Net Zero

Jack Fletcher
Jack Fletcher • 22 May 2024
14 comments

Hi everyone,

I am currently developing a Green Ward Toolkit designed to serve as an onboarding framework for clinicians and healthcare workers to adopt more sustainable practices within their wards, both in clinical and non-clinical settings. I am reaching out to the group to seek your assistance in locating reports, insights, links, and information on current research and existing toolkits being used within the NHS and beyond.

Your contributions will be invaluable to this project, and I look forward to your responses.

Best regards,
Jack Fletcher

Design Innovation Lead

Comments (14)

Jack Fletcher
Jack Fletcher • 6 months ago

Hi Jacqueline, thank you for providing the link to the AHP toolkit. I'm sure it will provide useful insights into toolkit structures. I will be sure to drop you an email at somepoint also. Thank you.

Rachel McLean
Rachel McLean • 6 months ago

Hi Jack,

On our Sustainability in Quality Improvement website - https://www.susqi.org/ - you will find a step by step guide for clinical and/or non clinical-staff to develop ideas, plan, implement and measure the impact of a sustainability improvement (SusQI) project. The tools are open access to all and encourage consideration of clinical, environmental, social and financial impacts (measuring each where possible).

We also run a Green team competition in which teams are supported through this process. All of the green team case studies are shared in the sustainable healthcare networks containing many ideas that are transferable to other settings. Below are links to a few recent, ward based projects
- https://networks.sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/resources/susqi-case-stud…
- https://networks.sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/resources/reducing-food-w…
- https://networks.sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/resources/have-confidence…
- https://networks.sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/resources/susqi-case-stud…

You will find many other case studies here in the networks. Even those that have not taken place within a ward are likely to have transferable learning.

We do have paid programmes for additional support as well, e.g.
- half day courses - https://sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/courses/technical-courses
- SusQI Academy - https://www.susqi.org/academy
- Green Team competition - https://www.susqi.org/green-team-competition

We have a free online Sustainability in Quality Improvement (SusQI) Showcase coming up on 19th June 2024 14.00-16.30 - you may like to join this to learn more. register here - https://www.tickettailor.com/events/centreforsustainablehealthcare/1223…

Please feel free to contact me if you'd like more information!

Best wishes,
Rachel
(SusQI Programme lead for competitions and specialty challenges, CSH)

Jack Fletcher
Jack Fletcher • 6 months ago

Hi Rachel, thank you for providing me with all the links. Myself and a colleague are actually going to attend the Carbon literacy event in July that was posted on the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare website. We look forward to learning more on the topic. Thank you for your response.

Fernanda Conceição
Fernanda Conceição • 5 months ago

Hi Lina! Thanks for sharing! Im a portuguese nurse in Critical Care also and I'm having difficulties with recycling paper from syringes because here in Portugal then say that teh paper is waxed (so not recyclable). Do you have any document/source that I can show and prove that it is?
Kindly, Fernanda

Lina Christopoulou
Lina Christopoulou • 5 months ago

Fernanda Conceição Hi! I'll try to find out for you but I suspect it will depend on who your local handler is and where the recycling goes. Who manages waste for your hospital? I have found it really helpful to build a relationship with those people directly as they handle the waste and will know the facts! Great to hear from you.

Lina Christopoulou
Lina Christopoulou • 5 months ago

Fernanda Conceição Hi again Fernanda, I've had a response from a colleague "Could you please request a picture of both sides of the packaging and I’ll be able to offer some insight from that point." - could you send me a picture? If you can't upload it here let me know and I'll share my email address.

Lina Christopoulou
Lina Christopoulou • 5 months ago

Fernanda Conceição Hi! My person says: Looking at the pictures and information I have on waxed paper, I can confirm that if the waxed paper part of the packaging is removed, the remainder can be recycled but owing to the difficulty in breaking down wax during the MRF process it unfortunately cannot be recycled.

But it sounds like the plastic part can be recycled? Which is good?

Also, what hospital are you at? My manager is moving to Portugal - I'll ask her to look out for you. I'm on lina.christopoulou@nhs.net if you don't want to reply in a public chat. :-)

Lina Christopoulou
Lina Christopoulou • 5 months ago

Lina Christopoulou Also, do you have information on the plastic resin codes? Is there anything on the other half of the wrapper or any other codes we need to check on?

Emma Vittery
Emma Vittery • 5 months ago

Hi Jack, great to hear your idea for this - Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals Trust developed a great 10-step framework for embedding sustainability at any level (ward-board) which I'd previously shared on here to try and get feedback. We're currently trying to evaluate and optimise this. It sounds like there might well be some overlap between our work - do you want to drop me an email : e.vittery@nhs.net? and we can explore further

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