Sustainable Healthcare

Sustainable Healthcare sets out a vision for medical care of high quality, manageable cost and low impact on the planetary systems which sustain us. In tackling the major challenges of our age, such as resource depletion, loss of biodiversity and climate change, health services can play a central role, moving from being part of the problem to becoming part of the solution. Sustainable Healthcare explores questions such as: What is the relevance of sustainability in healthcare? How does climate change threaten human health? How can we create low carbon care pathways? How can healthcare organizations deal better with their waste? How can death and dying become more sustainable? How can we engage ourselves and others with this agenda? Written by an international team combining clinical, educational, practical and policy expertise in sustainability and health, this book provides a synopsis of our current predicaments, and explores some of the emerging solutions. Containing case studies and resources for further information and action, Sustainable Healthcare is a practical guide to making healthcare more sustainable for all healthcare professionals, managers and students.

Preface, vii Acknowledgements, ix About the authors, x Chapter 1 Greening the gaze, 1 Chapter 2 Climate science in context, 26 Chapter 3 Engaging with sustainability, 50 Chapter 4 A vision for sustainable healthcare, 72 Chapter 5 Low–carbon clinical care, 92 Chapter 6 Food for people and planet, 112 Chapter 7 Travel and transport: moving to better health, 138 Chapter 8 Healthy buildings, healthy spaces, 157 Chapter 9 Resource stewardship, 183 Chapter 10 The Green Death, 206 Chapter 11 The Green Academy, 223 Chapter 12 The journey towards sustainable healthcare, 244 Index, 259

Knut Schroeder : General Practitioner, Concord Medical Centre and Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer, Centre for Academic Primary Care, School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Trevor Thompson : General Practitioner and Reader in Healthcare Education, Centre for Academic Primary Care, School of Social and Community Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK Kathleen Frith : President, Glynwood and former Managing Director, Center for Health and the Global Environment, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA David Pencheon : Director, NHS Sustainable Development Unit, East of England Strategic Health Authority, Cambridge, UK