Sustainability
What are we doing to be more sustainable?
We have a green team who are working to help make our practice more environmentally friendly.
Our key areas of focus for sustainability are:
- Embedding environmental sustainability into our organisational culture
- Improving our energy efficiency
- Reviewing Green procurement
- Reducing waste
- Promoting sustainable transport (such as cycling or walking)
- Reducing our use of paper
- Prescribing responsibly
- Implementing the Green Impact for health toolkit : https://toolkit.sos-uk.org/greenimpact/giforhealth/login]
- Supporting health and wellbeing of our staff
Embedding environmental sustainability into our organisation
- Sustainability is part of our mission statement: ‘We aspire to deliver high quality, appropriate and sustainable healthcare at the right time, by the right person’
- We ask staff to reflect on how they have helped sustainability as part of our appraisals
- We have meetings which include green changes as part of the agenda regularly ask our staff to feedback ideas for improvement
- We work collaboratively with our PCN and Islington borough to improve our goals of net zero
Improving our energy efficiency
- Radiators are turned down where possible
- Lights and equipment are turned off at the end of the day
Reducing our use of paper
- Working towards being a paperless practice where possible
- Ceasing use of fax machines
- Promoting health education messages to patients via text and email (to reduce the use of leaflets)
- Setting photocopiers to print double sided by default
- Photocopiers are able to scan and email documents
- Online forms being introduced to website
Reducing waste and increasing recycling
- Ensuring only confidential waste is collected for shredding and using ‘shred it’ which helps plant trees!
- All other paper recycled
- Recycling of other materials, including cardboard, printer toner cartridges and batteries
- Encouraging patients to consider recycling of inhalers at certain pharmacies in (Boots on Seven Sister’s roads Where To Recycle Asthma Inhalers – KnowYourAsthma.com)
Reducing prescribing
- Where possible, the Practice is reducing polypharmacy and over prescribing to improve care for both patients and the planet
- Reducing prescribing of over the counter medicines
- Reviewing high quality low carbon asthma care and reviewing inhalers which are good for our patients and the planet
Implementing the NUS/RCGP Green Impact Toolkit
- Whole Practice commitment to achieving the Green Impact for Health Award
- Commitment to support the National Green Impact Agenda to reduce carbon emissions in line with the 2030 United Nations Sustainability Development Goals
- Supporting other practices and providers to implement the Green Impact Award