UHP strives to 'green' its Emergency Department
University Hospitals Plymouth has recently signed up to the GreenED programme, a Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) initiative to measure and reduce the environmental impact of Emergency Departments (ED) in the UK, thus driving environmentally sustainable practices within the specialty of Emergency Medicine.
At the heart of GreenED is a framework; the first sustainability framework designed specifically for a secondary care setting. The framework outlines evidence-based actions, divided into bronze, silver and gold levels, with the guidelines and resources required to help achieve them. Addressing these actions not only improves the environmental sustainability of an ED, but contributes to national net zero targets and creates financial savings for EDs while maintaining or improving patient care. Successful completion of all the actions at a given level leads to formal accreditation by RCEM, recognizing the department's commitment to environmentally sustainable EM practices.
A team has now been established in the Emergency Department and are now working on the actions to achieve accreditation. This will make improvements to the sustainability of the department and its impact on the environment, benefiting patients and staff in the process through the reduction of single use plastics and paper use, reduction in air pollution, energy and waste, and the implementation of low carbon medicines and sustainable patient pathways. We will bring you an update later on over the next year on progress made.
