Let’s Go Zero!
NHS Trusts across the UK have pledged to reduce the impact the healthcare system has on the environment. In 2018, Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust started a campaign called Gloves Off: safer in our hands, which focused on the overuse of non-sterile gloves. Results from the first year of the project showed the trust saved more than £90,000 and prevented 18 tonnes of waste being sent to landfill and affecting the environment*.
How has COVID-19 had an impact on the environment ?
The Coronavirus pandemic has significantly increased medical waste due to disposable PPE, but it has also given Healthcare staff a renewed focus on becoming more green-aware. NHS Trust campaigns such as Gloves Off have looked to bring sustainability to the forefront. Those involved aspire to ensure that their own remits do not contribute to environmental degradation.
It is imperative that we take steps now to reduce our carbon footprint and the NHS contributes to around 4% of the UK’s carbon footprint annually*. To change this, global healthcare providers must make systemic adjustments – one of which is to reduce plastic medical waste.
The TRITEMP™ non-contact medical grade thermometer helps to reduce plastic medical waste as it requires no plastic single use consumables. This in turn also results in financial cost savings.
Read more from Nursing Times about how nurses across the country are doing their bit.
