Getting Started: Low carbon clinical care in hospitals
Low carbon care aims to reduce hospitals’ environmental impact through strategies and actions to reduce the climate footprint of the entire health delivery process, without compromising quality of care. In fact, it can often improve the quality of the care provided.
Benefits of low-carbon clinical care
Low-carbon healthcare is designed to minimize greenhouse gas emissions while offering health and environmental benefits. For instance reducing air-polluting toxins can reduce the associated burden of cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Reducing disposable plastic waste reduces the amount of microplastics in the environment.
Implementing low-carbon care
Preventing ill health
The best way to reduce healthcare emissions and improve health outcomes is by focusing on prevention. Ways to do this include population health initiatives and by empowering and educating people and patients to actively manage their own health.
Example: At an NHS Trust in the UK, doctors conducted a project to identify oncology patients at high risk of fractures. They estimated that treating these patients with calcium and vitamin D3 could prevent hip fractures, avoiding 316 kg of CO2 for clinical care.
Improving efficiency and quality of care
Boosting quality of care not only contributes to patient wellbeing but can also significantly reduce healthcare emissions by:
- avoiding unnecessary interventions
- reducing over-investigation
- ensuring earlier and faster diagnosis
- reducing length of stay.
Expanding low-carbon care pathways
Offering more care options like telemedicine, home care, and community care can reduce emissions by cutting unnecessary hospital visits. Improving patient triage can ensure that people access the services they need quickly.
Example: A study shows that a virtual physiotherapy programme after knee surgery not only reduces costs by 2,745 USD per patient compared to in-person care, but also results in fewer rehospitalizations and delivers similar outcomes to those in usual care.
Rethinking prescriptions
Reducing over-prescription not only mitigates the risk of medication-related harm but also reduces the carbon footprint associated with drug production, packaging, and disposal. Oral administration (over intravenous methods) can significantly lower environmental impact by minimizing resource use and waste.
Example: A hospital in Portugal demonstrated that personalizing care through incremental haemodialysis creates financial savings and also brings significant advantages for patients and the environment.
Spotlight: The carbon footprint of Australian healthcare
Clinicians and healthcare providers play a crucial role in this change. By embracing sustainable practices and rethinking traditional care models, they can lead the shift towards a healthier planet and a more resilient healthcare system for future generations.
