Suspected cancer referral pathway reduces CO2 emissions
As University Hospitals Plymouth moves towards becoming a digitally enabled organisation with the adoption of the Devon-wide Electronic Patient Record system, departments are thinking creatively about how they can ditch manual paper systems in favour of electronic ones. The Cancer Services Team within the Performance & Management Information Department are no exception…
UHP receive ~3000 urgent suspected cancer referrals from Primary Care every month. Previously to this project, this meant sending out every patient a letter and an information leaflet in an envelope with a stamp- this means that every month the Trust was sending out 3000 single page letters, envelopes, A4 leaflets and stamps which was costing on average £27,000 a year! Spotting an opportunity to reduce this expenditure and paper use, the team have now switched this service to a text-based and digital patient information process which is faster, cheaper and less carbon heavy.
Around 80% of the referred patients are able to receive text messages which means leaflets and letters only get sent to 20% of the patients. As a result, the cost of this process is now only ~£7000 per year which results in an annual saving of ~£20,000! What’s more, if approximately 3000 patients are referred each month and 80% of them no longer require a letter, leaflet or envelope, this will save:
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69,600 grams of CO2, based on the assumption that sending a standard letter emits roughly 29g of CO2
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274 pounds CO2 equiv. by reducing paper use by approx. 7200 sheets which is equal to 0.036 U.S. Short Tons
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701 gallons of water as this would be what was needed to manufacture the paper
A key takeaway from this project is the hugely positive feedback received from patients already. Obtaining essential information more quickly essential in helping patients to manage anxiety and worry as they begin their treatment journey.
This excellent example of innovation has therefore improved the patient experience of the urgent suspected cancer pathway whilst also saving the Trust money and CO2 emissions. The project proves that Sustainability initiatives often have more benefits than planetary health!
