212 steps towards the world’s first net zero health service

More than 1,000 hospitals and healthcare facilities now have a green plan in place

CREDIT: This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared on NHS England

For the very first time, every NHS Trust – all 212 of them – have a sustainability plan to create a fully net zero health service. These board-approved plans will save more than 1m tonnes of carbon over the next three years – the same as taking 520,000 cars off the road.

As well as bringing an environmental benefit, the plans will also help improve patient care and save lives, while reducing costs and waste. The intention demonstrates the NHS’s support for tackling climate change and air pollution. 

The World Health Organization reports that 99% of the world breathes unhealthy air; every year, air pollution is responsible for more than 36,000 deaths in the UK. In London alone, poor air quality led to more than 1,700 hospital admissions for asthma and serious lung conditions between 2017-2019.

Accounting for around 40% of public sector emissions, and 3.5% of road transport, the NHS can make a difference on a national scale. It can also mobilise its 80,000 suppliers – that’s why it became the world’s first health service to commit to net zero carbon.

NHS organisations are already turning national ambition into local action through these plans. For example, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children recently turned the main street outside the hospital into a giant playground as part of ‘Play Street’, an opportunity to have fun in spaces usually reserved for cars.

In 2022, the University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust performed the world’s first net zero operation. Carbon emissions were reduced almost to nothing and energy-efficient options were used, including LED lights. Harmful gases were completely removed, by using liquid anaesthetic injected straight into the patient’s veins, among other sustainable actions.

Efficient infrastructure requires investment and the UK government has recognised the benefits this can bring for the tax-payer; it has announced a £329m funding injection into hospital energy efficiency and decarbonisation. This will help bolster green plans across more than 20 hospitals and see efficiency savings of around £463m over the next five years, while also cutting carbon at scale.

Nine–in-10 staff support a net zero NHS. They understand the impact it will have on improving health, for now and future generations’ greener care equals high-quality care. The announcement of 212 NHS green plans has signed, sealed – and is now on the way to – delivering the world’s first net zero health service.