Our Vision: To reduce to zero the negative impact of IPC practices on climate change and the environment
Officers
Coordinator: Graham Pike
Deputy Coordinator: Jo Taylor
- Treasurer: Holly Slyne
- Sustainability Resources Coordinator: Janice Toplass
- Comms Lead: Sarah Wheatley
- Action Logger: Jackie Portsmouth
- Website Leads: Belinda Caslake and Jennie Wilson
- Conference team: Pixy Strazds, Clare Palmer, Steven Boyle, Jenny Boyce, Jennie Wilson, Graham Pike
Aims:
- to ensure sustainability is embedded in all IPS activity and guidance
- to support IPC practitioners in embedding sustainability in their practice and in that of their organisation
- Support IPS to declare a climate emergency and thus commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by IPC practices and IPS activity to zero by 2030
Read our proposal to see how we will do this here
✨✨SIG Conference 2024✨✨
Watch this space for more info coming soon
PRSENTATIONS FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS
19th April 2023
Greenwashing and Carbon Footprinting Chantelle Rizan (Clinical Lecturer in Sustainable Healthcare, Brighton and Sussex Medical School) covered Greenwashing – what it is and how to spot it and also talk about some of the methods used to account for environmental impact (hopefully helping us all to develop ‘carbon literacy’ and making it easier for us to evaluate sustainability claims and studies). Check out the presentation here.
IPC and Climate Change Rodney Morton (NHS England Deputy Director of Nursing For Innovation and Sustainability, Office of the Chief Nurse) spoke about NHS England’s sustainability agenda and his team’s work programme, followed by a discussion about how the SIG and his team can work together. Check out the presentation here.
10th May 2023
Is It Really Greener? Clare Nash (Head of Clinical Products Management at the Black Country Alliance) shared a decision support tool, Is it really Greener?, that she has developed to help staff compare the sustainability of products. Check out the presentation here.
14th June 2023
Reduction in Couch Covers Rachael Brown (Infection Prevention Lead Nurse at Nuffield Health Warwickshire Hospital) graduated in the first cohort of the Florence Nightingale Foundation’s Green Leaders Programme, with her project on reducing the use of couch covers (aka blue roll!) winning her a FNF scholarship. Rachael will talk to us about the project (poster attached) and the next steps. Check out the poster here and the presentation here.
12th July 2023
Sustainability in IPC: challenges & solutions Graham Pike, SIG Coordinator, has suggested it would be lovely to have a bank of other volunteers who’d be happy to give similar presentations and is happy for you to share his presentation here - it is editable for you to adapt to your local needs.
11th October 2023
Our Route to Net Zero Clive Spooner, Global Training Manager, Vernacare, discusses how can we all reduce our individual impacts on the planet. Check out the presentation here.
17th April 2024
Sustainability in Dental Healthcare Louise Brooks, Dental Nurse and Green Champion at Cambridgeshire Community Services (CCS), presented a couple of impressive sustainability projects implemented recently in CCS practices. Check out the presentation here.
A Call to Action: Nurses and Midwives Leading the Way Lucy Brown, Clinical Delivery Lead at the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (CSH) talked about the work of the CSH and what organisations like the IPS can achieve by working collaboratively with them. Check out the presentation here.
Action Log: add link
Repository of Sustainability Practice
We are seeking to compile a database of IPC related initiatives for sustainability - anything around ‘reduce, reuse, recycle and refine’ that have been, or are in the process of being trialled or implemented. Examples include reducing glove use, reusable aprons, recycling face masks etc. and can cover any setting. Suggested themes include but are not limited to: gloves, aprons, face masks, respirators, eye protection, gowns, linen, clinical equipment/ consumables, theatre wear, cleaning and waste segregation.
Once information is submitted it will be added to our database (watch this space) and updated periodically in order to share information on projects. Thus enabling people to connect and explore initiatives that they could look at in their own areas to help save the planet. Every little helps.
If you have a project to share, please complete this form.
Take a look at our repository here
Graham and Jennie spoke at a webinar on gloves recently for the Intensive Care Society, hosted by the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare.
Here are some ideas to inspire and get you started
Find out more about the here
Useful Resources
Check out our tweets for World Hand Hygiene Day 2023 and help share our messages about reducing inappropriate PPE use and the importance of sustainabilbility. Follow IPS on Twitter here
- Stop and think – are gloves needed? Effective #HandHygiene will protect you, your patients and the planet 🌍
- Stop and think sustainably – are gloves needed? Did you know that the life cycle of a box of gloves contributes the same carbon emissions as driving 12 miles in an average car 🚗
- Stop and think sustainably – Do you need to use #PPE for your task? Include the planet in the risk assessment. Only wear PPE when needed 💚
#Sustainability #CleanYourHands #InfectionPrevention #IPS
We are proud to join the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change (UKHACC), an alliance of UK-based health organisations representing about 1 million health professionals.
They coordinate action, provide leadership, and amplify the voice of health professionals across the UK. Their work is focussed on three key areas; raising awareness, empowering people and influencing change. They also produce regular bullins with news, updates, campaigns and events which may be of interest. Find out more here.
Graham Pike and Jo Taylor are the IPS representatives on the UKHACC. Graham attends monthly policy meetings and Jo attends the biannual council meetings. They will give updates at SIG meetings and anything particularly significant will come by e-mail too. Do let us know if there are things you would like us to raise, especially if you have read the report.
The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare offers strategic input and consultancy on sustainable healthcare research and practice to national and local programmes. Find out more about their work and QI projects here.
Your step by step guide to a lighter footprint on the planet
giki zero: Learn what you can do for the planet here.
The Greener NHS programme will work with its staff, hospitals and partners. It will build on the great work being done by trusts across the country, sharing ideas on how to reduce the impact on public health and the environment, save money and reach net carbon zero. Find out more here.
Carbon Literacy: “An awareness of the carbon dioxide costs and impacts of everyday activities, and the ability and motivation to reduce emissions, on an individual, community and organisational basis.” Find out more about The Carbon Literacy Project here.
FREE COURSE about glove use
The Non Sterile Disposable Glove Use Fundamentals resource has been designed by the RCN in collaboration with nursing staff and NHS England. The course includes:
- The principles and practice of glove use — why and when to wear gloves, donning and doffing guidance and contamination transfer.
- How to make one change to make your own glove use more sustainable.
- Key information and resources to help users recognise and understand skin health issues.
The Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is free to access and designed for all staff and care settings. Participants can collaborate with others to reduce inappropriate glove use and better care for their skin.
Where to recycle your healthcare equipment
MedAID are a charity on a mission to bridge the gap between surplus medical devices and equipment and the shortage of medical equipment in resource-limited countries. To do this, they collect unwanted, but perfectly viable, medical equipment from hospitals throughout the UK to send straight to under-resourced medical institutions abroad. Find out more here.