Sustainable health is a key initiative for Responsible Futures and involves close collaboration with Healthy Futures and joint work with Connected Futures. Our ultimate aim is to contribute to the creation of a sustainable health and care system that delivers high quality care and improved public health without exhausting natural resources or causing severe ecological damage.
‘Greening’ the sustainable health and care sector
We are interested in exploring ways in which physical, financial and human resources can be employed efficiently and responsibly. With choices to be made around energy, travel, procurement, waste and infrastructure, there is scope to make significant improvements.
Sustainable healthcare
With experts developing new technologies and research into how we deliver services, we are in a good position to consider how the healthcare sector can implement changes that have financial, social and environmental benefits. Our work looks at how to create more sustainable models of care through health promotion, more prevention, improved medicines prescribing practice and telehealth.
“Currently carbon dioxide emissions attributable to the NHS in England alone are greater than the total emissions from all passenger aircraft departing from Heathrow Airport.”
The King’s Fund report, Sustainable Health and Social Care: Connecting environmental and financial performance, 22 March 2012
An example of public engagement with the sustainable health agenda
Sustainability symposium – April 2018 – University of Brighton
Organised by the School of Health Sciences, this annual sustainability symposium was jointly sponsored by Responsible Futures, Healthy Futures, Low Carbon Europe and SWR Waste Management. The symposium attracted external speakers, staff and students from the University of Brighton, the local health and social care sector, as well as attendees from across the country and overseas.
Discover more about the Sustainability symposium and the topics explored.
Find out more about our Responsible Futures initiatives.
