University Hospitals Sussex has joined with University College London Hospitals (UCLH), Cambridge University Hospitals, Imperial College Healthcare, and Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, in outlining their intentions to help reduce waste and carbon emissions.

In a joint statement, they declared: “As part of our commitment to sustainability, our collaborative group of NHS trusts aims to reduce single-use medical equipment and consumables, reusing wherever it’s clinically feasible and appropriate to do so. This will be reflected in our evaluation criteria for selecting products and suppliers through the procurement process, and through building skills, knowledge and processes in our Trust to enable this transition.”  

The alliance is spearheaded by Professor Mahmood Bhutta, a consultant ear, nose and throat (ENT) surgeon and clinical lead for environmental sustainability at University Hospitals Sussex. He is also professor of sustainable healthcare at Brighton and Sussex Medical School. 

He said: “The NHS in England generates a staggering 440 tonnes of medical waste every day. While discarding items has become commonplace, our research and analysis reveals that this is often unnecessary and perpetuated by misconceptions about infection risk.

“By forming this alliance, we advocate for a shift towards using reusable products, whenever safe to do so, and will always use suppliers that value sustainability. We encourage others in the NHS to join us.”

The alliance is focusing on three key areas of change, including not using items when they’re not needed; using reusable items rather than single-use, whenever it’s possible and safe to do so; and ensuring end-of-life items are returned for remanufacture or recycling, whenever possible.  

Joe Burton, sustainability transformation project lead at UCLH, said: “Our ambition is that this alliance signals to suppliers a shared desire to change the way that trusts procure single-use items in favour of reusables, supporting the national objective for the NHS to be net zero by 2045. We have multiple projects underway at UCLH to reduce our use of single-use items and continue to share our progress with the alliance.” 

Carin Charlton, director of capital, estates and facilities management and net-zero lead at Cambridge University Hospitals (CUH), said: “The circular economy is front and centre in our approach to environmental sustainability and climate-safe healthcare here at CUH. We’ve committed in our corporate strategy to tackling the climate emergency, and the environment is central in deciding what and how we consume: less waste and more re-use, repair and reprocessing.”  

Dr Gareth Thompson, sustainability clinical and innovation lead at Imperial College Healthcare, stressed that human health relies on the health of nature and the planet. He said: “The only way to reduce this waste, while also delivering world-class healthcare, is to create a circular economy, which includes re-introducing reusables so that waste is not wasted and instead becomes a resource that can be used again.” 

Virginia Massaro, chief financial officer and sustainability lead at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, added: “As an industry, healthcare providers see first-hand the effects of climate change; sometimes creeping symptoms, sometimes life-changing events. This alliance signals a bold move in the right direction, supporting our journey towards net zero.”  

Procurement

The procurement process plays a big part in what products the NHS choose to use. This is often the first step in choosing reusable items and those that are less harmful to the environment. Procurement body the Healthcare Supply Chain Association (HSCA) also welcomed the creation of the new alliance.  

Keith Rowley, chief officer for the Association, said: “HSCA has more than 4000 members across the NHS procurement and supply chain who are committed to meeting NHS net-zero ambitions. We’re therefore delighted to see these five Trusts going the next step to make this become real, by not only making commitment to ‘reduce and re-use’ but embedding this in their procurement process and providing the skills training to make this happen.”  

HSCA patron Lord Phillip Hunt added: “It’s great to see these Trusts lighting the way in the challenging but essential journey towards NHS net zero. In committing to ‘reduce and re-use’ and providing the process to make it a reality, they’ve set a path for others to follow.”  

Other trusts are encouraged to join the alliance in support of its mission.