NHS Sustainable Development - One Future, Different Paths conference (London, 03.02.10)

This event had a good South West contingent attend – individuals from eight Trusts, plus Lynn from Sustainable Health project and Kate from the SW SHA. We hope that additional information and presentations from the conference will be available on the conference website - in the meantime you can visit the website for the background information, draft agenda etc.

Overall: There was disappointment that the day was not more forward thinking and about sustainability ‘in the round’ for the NHS - and also that the key invited speakers (including Mike O'Brien, Minister for Health, Department of Health) did not attend.

Presentations: The introductory presentations by Will Day of the SDC and David Pencheon of the SDU were well received as they highlighted the need for properly embedding sustainability across the organisation, as well as the business/economic and delivery benefits that a more sustainable, low carbon health service would bring. However, in contrast (and as many events before) the rest of the day was mainly focused on estates and facilities based carbon reduction, particularly on energy reduction.

The afternoon presentations included one from Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, which highlighted their improved food procurement and catering systems, including the future development of an onsite food processing and preparation centre (similar to the Cornwall Food Programme). Also a presentation from David Wathey about the new P4CR procurement tools (as highlighted at the SDU workshop on 01 Feb - visit the info page for more detail and his presentations) and from the Carbon Trust about their support for Carbon Management Programmes.

Masterclasses: In general, it was felt that that masterclasses were too estates focussed, particularly on energy issues (all bar two covered energy) and/or provided information that wasn’t relevant. Sessions on bringing about change internally, low carbon care pathways, procurement and an organisation-wide focus on the business case and benefits of embedding sustainable development would have been preferred.

The Liftshare masterclass was attended by a few SW reps, and was well received as providing practical information about the web-based car share scheme and system (which also includes bicycle and taxi 'share')  that would be useful for any NHS Trust. They also can provide examples of where the scheme has worked in other Trusts across the county - resulting in cost savings, carbon savings and increased staff morale.

The Building Energy Use masterclass led by Schnieder was also reccommended as it highligted a self-funding model, known as a Stragetic Building Solution that can reduce building energy consumption by 20%.

Sponsors and stands: on the estates and facilities side of things, there were some useful stands and organisations with some interesting products on show. A list is yet to be made available on the event website, but will be circulated when/if available.

Useful links and case studies:

Reactions from SW attendees:
“The main thing I took from the day is that we need to move on from SD/carbon reduction being something us "SD people" do to something more organisational. So the big challenge for all of us is around leadership and embedding sustainability into all the changes that are going to happen to the NHS over the next 10 years.”

“I found the day useful in that it emphasised and re-energised the generic and holistic nature of the agenda. David Pencheon’s presentation was particularly useful in that his pragmatic approach encouraged me to just get on with it i.e. instead of waiting for standardised central metrics just start now reducing any metric you have against the 10% target.”

“One thing that did disappoint was an apparent lack of guidance/info on procurement.  Considering 60% of the total NHS carbon footprint is attributed to procurement this, and other conferences I have attended, seem to spend the majority of their time talking about energy/utility savings. Procurement issues seem to be overlooked.”

Event: 
NHS Sustainable Development 2010 - One Future, Different Paths
NHS Sustainable Development 2010 - One Future, Different Paths