Surgeons and academics converged upon the University of Birmingham in late 2023 for the Research for Greener Surgery Conference, igniting a pivotal dialogue on reconciling care with carbon reduction.
The conference, spearheaded by the NIHR Global Health Research Unit on Global Surgery, heralded a paradigm shift in healthcare practices.
It was a rallying cry to decarbonise operating theatres without compromising patient care.
At its core was the pioneering spirit that birthed the first documented ‘net zero’ operation in the NHS – a milestone achieved through innovative measures like reusable equipment and minimising electricity usage.
This operation, performed at Solihull Hospital in 2022, saw University of Birmingham experts working with a surgical team at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust to complete the operation.
The operation introduced several changes to standard practice, such as using reusable gowns, drapes, and scrub caps, minimising electricity use, and giving medications through the veins for general anaesthesia rather than using anaesthetic gases, which have a strong greenhouse effect.
The hospital team worked with experts at the University of Birmingham to prepare for the operation – using a process combining evidence-based approaches and a carbon output calculator developed specifically for this task.
The calculator is part of a Green Surgery toolkit, a frontline set of interventions to set the wheels in motion for carbon reduction.
The conference was launched by Professor Lucy Chappell, Chief Executive Officer of the National Institute for Health and Care Research and Chief Scientific Advisor for the Department of Health and Social Care, who outlined the importance of evidence-based approaches in the journey toward net zero surgery.
With the NHS aiming for net carbon neutrality by 2040, the imperative for sustainable healthcare practices looms large.
The conference underscored three key themes: capacity, training and environmental sustainability.
It looked at how the healthcare sector can use research to reduce carbon footprint across the health and care system whilst analysing how research delivery assists the delivery of more patient-centred, lower-carbon healthcare.
From elective surgery hubs to boost surgical capacity to changing behaviours in theatre to reduce waste, many initiatives were up for discussion, including a joint health-education solar strategy to decarbonise energy whilst wrapping in local GP practices and schools.
Echoing these sentiments, speakers at the recent Sustainability in Surgery webinar emphasised surgeons’ pivotal role as change agents.
Surgical International, the leading global hub for surgical news, presented the second ground-breaking webinar in collaboration with The Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, JAV Medical, and Orascoptic.
From advocating for solar installations to championing supply chain optimisation, surgeons emerged as catalysts for sustainable transformation within the healthcare sector.
The Research for Greener Surgery Conference and the Sustainability in Surgery webinar epitomise a collective resolve to chart a path toward a greener, more sustainable future – one operation at a time.
