A sustainability update

A sustainability update

UKHACC Biodiversity, climate change and health policy report

On Friday 29 September, the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change released their Biodiversity, climate change and health policy report, and we were proud to endorse it.

The report makes seven recommendations to the UK Government about preserving and protecting biodiversity and nature. These recommendations include prioritising sustainably sourced food, banning the production and sale of unnecessary plastic items and restoring green spaces in urban environments.

The climate and ecological crises are inextricably linked, and we must take immediate action to halt the loss of plant and animal species globally.

You can find the full report on the UKHACC website.

Our carbon footprint

As part of Your Society–Our Strategy 2023-27, we made a commitment to reduce our carbon footprint by 50% by 2030. The first step towards achieving this goal is to measure our carbon emissions so we can set a concrete target and make a plan for meeting it. We began this work in May this year and are almost ready to release our full report, which details our total footprint, what makes it up, and how we’ve reached these figures. It represents a detailed account of where we are now and where we think we can make reductions in our emissions to keep us on track to meet our 2030 goal. It also provides a guide for how other organisations can approach their own calculations.

As a small society, we know our carbon emissions are low when compared to larger organisations but we still feel it’s important we work to improve our sustainability efforts at every opportunity. This carbon footprint calculation and report are important steps towards helping us operate sustainably and set an example for organisations like ours.

We’re looking forward to releasing the report in the coming weeks, and hope it provides some insight for all our members into the areas in which we're doing well,and where we can do better. We also hope it helps you consider your own footprint, and what actions you might consider taking at home and at work to reduce it. Keep an eye out for it in your inbox and on our social media channels.

This is just one of the many projects our Sustainability Group are working on and as always you can learn more at ics.ac.uk/sustainability. If you’re interested in being part of our group and joining us in this important work, you can also get in touch with us at communicationsteam@ics.ac.uk

Implementing Gloves Off in Critical Care

You may have seen earlier this year that we launched a series of posters for World Hand Hygiene Day about glove use in Critical Care. We wanted to encourage everyone in our community to think twice before reaching for gloves and to ask themselves if they were really necessary.

The posters were endorsed by the British Association of Critical Care Nurses (BACCN) and the Infection Prevention Society (IPS)

We received some excellent feedback from members and your colleagues but we know that implementation can be difficult. So our Sustainability Working Group member, Sam Clark led the charge of creating an implementation guide to help you roll the change out in your own hospital. The guide covers everything from who you should speak to at what stages, to how you can combat some frequently encountered barriers.

We’re getting ready to launch the guide very soon so stay tuned!