Environmental Sustainability Plan
Good health and the environment are closely linked.
Delivering clinical care requires a lot of resources which can impact the environment, so SESLHD is making environmental sustainability part of delivering healthcare.
Our approach is to embed environmental sustainability considerations into the way we deliver care, the resources we use and the infrastructure we deliver it in. Our focus is to create a strong foundation with actionable plans that our staff, patients and the broader community can be involved and contribute to - we encourage you to get involved.
The SESLHD Environmental Sustainability Plan has three foundations Sustainable Clinical Services, Resource Efficiency and Resilient Facilities. Aligning with these are seven focus areas have been selected as they will generate immediate and lasting impact and reflect the views of staff and consumers garnered through extensive consultation. Please explore the focus areas where you will find more detail on our foundational initiatives for the next two years, how they will be delivered and how you can get involved. You can download a copy of the plan here.
Stay informed of our progress by checking back on this site.
Carbon footprinting of a hospital’s emissions both in Australia and overseas, shows that 80% of a typical hospital’s footprint is clinical care.
Clinical pathways can direct our resources towards high value care, improving patient safety and decreasing carbon emissions.
Staff can get involved by learning more about the key sustainability drivers and identifying sustainable clinical care pathways. The SESLHD Sustainable HealthCare Community of Practice can help. Check out how to get involved below.
The Change & Innovation team will lead the implementation of these initiatives.
Initiatives
- Create a toolkit for staff to find information on sustainable healthcare drivers
- Improve our processes – integrate sustainable healthcare drivers into SESLHD activities, including quality, project and business rule templates
Clinical pathways have already started shifting at SESLHD, we will continue to leverage existing ideas to embed sustainability into our operations.
Our staff are encouraged to develop opportunities that improve sustainability in their clinical services and to share progress and ideas via the SESLHD Sustainable HealthCare Community of Practice, find out more about getting involved below.
The Clinical Streams & Procurement teams will work on embedding these initiatives into our operations.
Initiatives
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Anaesthetic gases education program provided to theatre and obstetric care areas
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Theatre custom pack rationalisation project, to reduce unnecessary single use items and streamline packs
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Optimise procurement pathways to support sustainable product identification by our stores managers
To support evolving clinical care delivery models, SESLHD will need resource efficient utilities. Securing our future energy needs requires requires better monitoring, tracking and identification of inefficient assets.
Our small actions can add up to make a big difference, so we encourage our staff and community to expand on these initiatives and to share them with us. Check out how to get involved below.
The Corporate Services, Change & Innovation and the Digital Health teams will scope and implement these programs.
Initiatives
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Implement a Switch Off Campaign, to minimise standby and unnecessary energy use
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Identify sites to improve efficiency of plant & equipment using Asset and Energy Analytics
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Map and replace inefficient lighting
Our health care facilities produce a lot of waste. During our consultation for this plan our staff and consumers identified waste and recycling as their most important sustainability concerns.
The development of a district waste solutions program will be key to ensuring we address both the generation and removal of waste, by reducing our resource use where feasible and creating opportunities for our resources to be re-used and recycled.
To support our staff and community efforts, we will look to improve the visibility of recycling opportunities in our facilities. Check out how to get involved below.
The Corporate Services team will collaborate across the organisation to deliver these initiatives.
Initiatives
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Develop a SESLHD waste solutions program for re-use initiatives and to grow non-landfill waste streams
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Create recycling stations, starting with a prototype at a hospital site
Embracing innovative clinical care models supported by low emission vehicles will help prepare our health services for a sustainable future.
Healthcare fleets are undergoing rapid change, not only in how they are managed but also the vehicles and infrastructure that supports them. SESLHD will develop a roadmap for an electric vehicle (EV) passenger fleet that works with the evolving healthcare needs.
Our staff and community would like green travel opportunities in more sites - we are eager to support this.Check out how to get involved below.
The Corporate Services team will collaborate across the organisation to deliver these initiatives.
Initiatives
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Complete a SESLHD Fleet Evolution Plan to map out future needs and resource requirements to support evolving clinical services
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Finalise the SESLHD future EV (Electric Vehicle) 2030 strategy
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Support green travel opportunities, such as end-of-trip
SESLHD will consider a broad range of sustainability aspects every time a building is refurbished and identify sites for solar installations over the next two years.
Overwhelmingly staff and consumers have told us that renewable energy should be a priority and new installations will be championed where we have feasible sites. We will develop guidelines to support more sustainable refurbishment and our staff and community can help by championing more sustainable refurbishment options. Our community can get involved as part of a consultation team- check out how below.
The Corporate Services team will collaborate across the organisation to deliver these initiatives.
Initiatives
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Commence a program to review leakage of nitrous oxide, which is a potent greenhouse gas
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Identify feasible locations for solar installations across our transforming infrastructure
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Develop and advertise the Environmental Sustainability New Build & Refurbishment Guidelines to ensure sustainable options are promoted and considered in refurbishments
Incorporating environmental sustainability at the earliest opportunity for new construction is an efficient use of resources and will reap benefits for many years to come. SESLHD will consider a broad range of sustainability aspects at the planning stage for new builds.
We will develop guidelines to identify key considerations that can help lay a foundation for evolving sustainability programs that benefit our clinical service delivery, staff workflow and the environment. Our community can get involved as part of a consultation team - check out how below.
The Corporate Services team will collaborate across the organisation to deliver these initiatives.
Initiatives
- Develop Environmental Sustainability New Build & Refurbishment Guidelines to ensure the latest information is considered early in the design process
The SESLHD Environmental Sustainability Plan has benefited from extensive community and staff consultation, and we want to keep the dialogue open.
Like any good plan, we will need to review and listen to ensure we keep improving. The Environmental Sustainability Steering Committee (ESSC) will review the implementation of the plan and ongoing input.
We encourage our staff and community to align their activities with the focus areas of this plan. The executive sponsors from Strategy, Innovation & Improvement, Corporate Services, Clinical Streams and Finance, will lead the implementation of this plan, providing a foundation for all staff to get involved.
Need inspiration? Get involved here:
Contact SESLHD Sustainability: SESLHD-sustainability@health.nsw.gov.au
SESLHD staff can join the Sustainable HealthCare Community of Practice (you will need your Stafflink ID and password)