The Sustainability Day of Action: Cutting Edge Green Solutions
Our flagship day of action event returned for 2022! The day of actions purpose is to highlight the importance of sustainable development across the NHS and celebrate the steps that are being taken. The day aims to inspire and provide insight to NHS professionals across the country and this year, we did just that!
For the Day of Action this year we provided not one, but TWO webinars: ‘The Sustainability Challenges Faces in the NHS’ and ‘Cutting Edge Green Solutions’.
Our second event of the day saw industry professionals come together to discuss new, innovative products and services in response to issues raised in our morning webinar.
Maria Berntsson, Global EHS Manager & Asa Wrestling, Senior R&D Scientist, Wellspect Healthcare
Our first speakers of the day were our duo of presenters from Wellspect Healthcare, Maria and Asa. Wellspect pride themselves in inspiring their users to build self-confidence and independence by creating user=friendly products for bladder and bowel managements with a special focus on the environmental impacts of their products.
“At Wellspect we have a goal for our users to live independent and dignified lives.”
“We now use 100% renewable electricity at our manufacturing sites and aim to be net-zero by 2045, We are also very aware, as the NHS are, that we cannot do this without working with our suppliers.”
Maria talked us through the compani’s background in considering its environmental load and striving to lower its carbon footprint through the use of renewable electricity. She highlighted that Wellspect are aware that, similarly to the NHS, they need suppliers whose environmental goals match their own in order to succeed.
Asa then followed on from Maria to delve into the science behind just why their products are more environmentally beneficial.
“It’s important to stress that not all plastics are the same. Different plastics have different footprints. Our materials have a lower environmental load and carbon footprint in comparison to other materials commonly used, like PVC and polyurethane.”
Asa finished off their presentation by touching on how they have even extended their sustainability goals through to their packaging development.
Iwain Lam, BSC, MBT, President & CEO at Surface Medical
Next up we had Iwain join us to talk about how we can minimise landfill waste through patient surface repair. Iwain kicked off his presentation by talking us through the reason why many surfaces going into disrepair has previously resulted is high levels of waste within the NHS due to the need to maintain a clean and sterile environment.
“Surface replacement is deeply important to the cleanliness and safety of hospitals. Bodily fluids can make their way through the smallest of gaps in surfaces when they are damaged, leaving room for infection risk.”
Iwain then went on to talk to our attendees about the environmentally friendly solution created by Surface Medical; their CLEANPatch! He spoke about studies into repair vs replacement, stating that if identified early, 80% of damages can be repaired. The CLEANPatch solution offers a multitude of benefits that could greatly benefit the NHS in their sustainability journey.
He finished off his presentation with some figures on how this product could directly benefit the NHS.
“There are many benefits to this system. It can be done in a couple of minutes, so you don’t have to leave equipment around and risk cross-contamination. It’s as simple as putting on a band aid!”
Hermione Taylor, Founder & CEO at DoNation
Our final speaker on the Day of Action was Hermione Taylor from DoNation. DoNation have developed a platform which helps NHS Trusts to engage their employees with sustainability pledges. She spoke about how her platform came to be formed after someone running a half marathon asked their friends and family to donate through environmental pledges rather than cash.
“When running his first half marathon, he asked his friends to donate in action instead of cash. He managed to save 1.5 tonnes of carbon over the two months from his friend’s pledges.”
Hermione spoke to attendees about DoNations experience in working with a range of NHS Trusts and how, by adding a little competitive motivation has benefitted employees in being able to make a real difference through environmental pledges.
“Imagine if every single one of your 1.2 million staff made a pledge. I went away last night a crunched the numbers and our average savings per user would be around 133,000 tonnes of carbon per year!”
We were delighted to hear from some amazing companies within this webinar who are putting in some amazing work to really make a difference in the future of the NHS.
This webinar discussed new innovative green products and solutions and their applicability to our healthcare system. Collaborative approaches and real investment are required for us to build a greener future for the NHS. If you would like more information or are interested in speaking on one of our future webinars, please do not hesitate to get in contact.