Accelerating the transition towards a net zero NHS: Delivering a sustainable and resilient UK healthcare sector

Abstract

Currently, a take-make-dispose ‘linear’ health system prevails in the health sector involving large volumes of waste including single use products and disposing of medical equipment prematurely. This creates unnecessary carbon emissions and also wastes money. The 8% annual reduction cannot be achieved by incremental innovation. Instead, suppliers and the NHS need to collaborate to deliver net zero care models. Enabling these changes requires new forms of collaboration between suppliers, health sector decision-makers and the involvement of all staff and service users.