A ten-point summary of best practice for mental health teams to improve respiratory outcomes for people with mental health problems developed by the London Respiratory Network. This matters because:
Nephrologist, Charlie Tomson, gives an overview of the challenge of reducing carbon in the NHS and potential solutions - from energy and waste reduction to Sustainable Care Pathways.
As atmospheric carbon dioxide levels top 400 parts per million, an editorial in this week's BMJ draws attention to the impact of respiratory inhalers on global warming.
The continued use of metered-dose inhalers (MDIs) in respiratory care will have a potentially serious effect on global warming if production is not controlled, largely because these inhalers use potent green-house gas hydroflourocarbons (HFCs) as propellants. A cost-effective and safe alternative is available in the form of Dry Powder Inhalers (DPIs), and we propose a programme to change prescribing practices such that DPIs are used in preference to HFC-driven inhalers where not clinically contra-indicated.
Table of Actions for a Sustainable Respiratory Inhalers Programme - first created in consultation with Sustainable Respiratory Care Advisory Group in February 2013. This table can be updated as actions are completed or proposed.
The continued use of metered-dose inhalers in respiratory care will have a potentially catastrophic effect on global warming if production is not controlled, largely because these inhalers use potent green-house gas hydroflourocarbons (HFCs) as propellants.
Published late last year in BMJ Thorax, editorial by Ashley Woodcock: "The Montreal Protocol was signed 25 years ago. As a result, the irreversible destruction of the ozone layer was prevented.
Vince Mak's talk presents an important opportunity to reduce environmental harm from use (and over-use) of respiratory inhalers, which have a huge carbon footprint due to the use of HFC propellants:
Greenhouse Gas Accounting Sector Guidance for Pharmaceutical Products and Medical Devices
A consortium of major global companies has been working with the NHS SDU to agree standards for reporting of carbon equivalents emissions for the manufacture of drugs and medical devices. The report was launched on Friday 30th Nov 2012 at St Thomas' Hospital in London and is a real achievement, albeit only the beginning of a lot more work.
This article by CSH's Sustainable Surgery Fellow, Chantelle Rizan, and co-authors, provides greenhouse gas emission factors for the different healthcare waste streams in the UK.
Article: Environmental impact of Personal Protective Equipment supplied to health and social care services in England in the first six months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Background: Health-care services are necessary for sustaining and improving human wellbeing, yet they have an environmental footprint that contributes to environment-related threats to human health.
This toolkit gives you everything you need for a 1 minute, 5 minute and even more minute conversation, complete with step-by-step guides, behavioural change insights and all the evidence to back it up.
This patient- and clinician-facing website gives guidance on choosing inhalers with lower environmental impact - something which is now included in the BTS asthma guidelines.
Sustainability has been recognised as a domain of quality in healthcare, and building it into quality improvement (QI) is a practical way to drive incremental change towards a more ethical, sustainable health system.
Nephrologist, Charlie Tomson, gives an overview of the challenge of reducing carbon in the NHS and potential solutions - from energy and waste reduction to Sustainable Care Pathways.