General practice surgeries becoming more eco-friendly to help public health
General practice surgeries in Dorset are working with the Dorset General Practice Alliance to become more environmentally friendly in a bid to not only help the environment but the health of the public too.
The World Health Organisation has said that climate change is a health emergency. Air pollution is the biggest environmental threat to health in the UK, with between 28,000 and 36,000 deaths a year attributed to long-term exposure, according to Public Health England. It is linked to strokes, heart disease, lower lung diseases and cancer.
In line with the NHS who have committed to becoming the world’s first carbon net zero health provider by 2040, the Alliance have created a practical guide for surgeries to use to help them lower their energy usage and carbon footprint.
The Dorset Green Practice Guide was launched yesterday at an event attended by practice managers and general practice staff across the county. Organised by the Alliance, the event had inspirational speakers from the Village Practice in London, Frome Medical Practice in Somerset, and the University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust who have all taken big steps to improve their carbon footprint and encouraged practices to look at ways in which they can reduce theirs and work in more sustainable ways.
Celia Canter, project lead for the green guide for the Alliance said, “Making general practice surgeries more environmentally friendly benefits our local communities and people’s health.
“This project has been a voyage of discovery of just how many green groups, communities and organisations there are across the county who support green and sustainable changes which will have a significant positive impact on both our climate and our health.
“We know that even small changes like putting plants in practices, having garden areas outside the practice and changing lightbulbs to LED can have a big impact over time.
“General practice staff are extremely busy caring for people, so the Alliance have produced this guide to make it easier for practices to start making change quickly.”
One practice who has made some big changes is Cross Roads Surgery in Weymouth. They decided to focus on their energy efficiency and made many changes including solar panels on their surgery roof. Sue Wilkins, practice manager said,
“We wanted to use more renewable energy and lower our reliance on non-renewable sources, we’ve installed solar panels across supported by a grant from Carbon Neutral Dorset which is already making a big difference to our bills.
“We also changed to using all LED lighting in our practice. This immediately lowered our energy consumption and also improved the overall quality of lighting within our spaces, which is better for our staff and patients.”
The public are being asked to help too, such as only ordering the medicines that they need from repeat prescriptions and handing unwanted medicines back to your pharmacy to dispose of. This way you are helping to make sure that waste medicines do not pollute our rivers and seas.
Surgeries across Dorset now have the opportunity to use the guide to make changes and the Alliance is encouraging practices to start their green journey to a sustainable future. You can read more information about the green guide for practices at www.dorsetgpalliance.co.uk/greener.
November 2024