Help the NHS help the environment

Torbay Weekly – Greener AHP Week

Bev Brodbelt, Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist at Torbay and South Devon NHS Foundation Trust, talks about Greener AHP Week and how the NHS is planning for a more sustainable future.

Later this month, colleagues across the NHS will mark Greener Allied Health Professionals (AHP) Week. AHPs are a diverse group of healthcare professionals who provide a range of specialist healthcare services.

Although the week is focused on AHPs, it’s an opportunity for all colleagues and members of the public to reflect on the environmental impact that all our work and services have. The NHS is one of the biggest organisations in the country and one of the largest employers in the world, and we know that with this comes with an environmental cost.

One of the main ways that members of the public can help us is by returning any walking aids and crutches issued to any of our sites that has a physiotherapy team based there. These can then be cleaned and reissued to other people.

Nationally, the NHS has committed to reaching net zero on carbon emissions with a clear plan for a sustainable future. As a local NHS trust, we need to play our part to achieve and meet these targets.

The week is an opportunity to share sustainability projects and ideas that colleagues can get involved with, raise awareness of the link between health and climate change and consider what a greener NHS may look like. 

It is also an opportunity to celebrate the great work that our AHP colleagues have achieved, while working closely alongside their departmental colleagues. 

Operating department practitioners (ODP) provide high level care to people at all stages of an operation. Richard Adams and his team in general theatres at Torbay Hospital have introduced several more sustainable solutions in their practice in an effort to help their service go greener. 

Recently, they have introduced a reusable laryngeal mask airway device which can be reused thanks to the work of the hospital’s sterilisation unit. This replaces a previous plastic device that was single use and disposed of after every person that theatres supported.

They have been able to replace an entirely disposable laryngoscope, made up of a blade, handle and batteries, with a reusable solution. The new video intubation device uses disposable blades, preventing the need to replace the whole device.

Nitrous oxide is used during operations as anaesthesia. By moving away from the pipeline use of nitrous oxide during operating lists, this has dramatically reduced the amount of greenhouse gases that operations produce. 

I have enjoyed hearing what other departments have been doing to contribute to the greener plan. Our hand therapy team provides splinting, rehabilitation exercises and many other treatments for people with hand or wrist injuries.

The team are transitioning from the use of mainly thermoplastics to produce splints for people to more sustainable alternatives. By switching to options with a much lower plastic ratio or that are biodegradable, this is reducing the amount of waste that this type of support creates. 

There has also been some fantastic feedback from patients on these new materials, as they are often more breathable solutions which make for a more comfortable experience for the person wearing them. They are also very happy to find out that this alternative solution is more sustainable and helping the environment. 

As I mentioned previously, the week is an opportunity to reflect on the work of our wider colleagues too. In November last year, our catering teams in Torbay Hospital’s Bayview Restaurant switched from the use of disposable coffee cups to the use of reusable/returnable alternatives. In the first four months, this prevented over 35,000 disposable cups being thrown away. 

These are just some of the examples at Torbay and South Devon that have seen teams think about the impact that their services have and how, by making local changes, they are contributing to a greener national picture in the NHS.