Healthy Planet DoH Letter - E-vote
Written by Matt Brandwood, 10 months ago | Permalink | Campaign: Healthy Planet
Letter
I am writing to you on behalf of Medsin, a student led global health network of over 5000 medical students, which aims to educate students on health inequalities in our local and global communities, and take action against them in the form of projects and campaigns.
Medsin members are very concerned about the impact of environmental degradation on health. As you are aware, the overuse of resources has negative effects on health both at a local level and on a global scale. One of the most pressing health issues of our time is global climate change, which threatens millions of people worldwide with reduced access to food, water, shelter, clean air and inevitably, health. Climate change increases the spread of vector-borne diseases and may lead to the displacement of millions of people and conflict.
Given the impact of human use of resources on human health, it is crucial that the UK's National Health Service takes measures to minimise its ecological footprint. We are aware that some steps are being taken, particularly through the Sustainable Development Commission, but we write to encourage you to further these efforts.
There are many simple ways that trusts could reduce their energy usage. For example, at St Georges' Trust, an audit found that water had been dripping from a pipe for over a year, wasting an exorbitant amount. Surveys and audits should be carried out in all trusts, but with NHS ever struggling under financial pressures, it is harder to take a long term view. We believe it is crucial that incentives are put in place for trusts to improve their environmental performance. How will you encourage Trusts to address these issue, and how will improvements and incentives to improve be funded?
We have a number of specific points to raise. Could the following be put into practice, and if so, when:
- We are pleased to see that you have created an NHS environmental assessment tool, and hope that this is bringing tangible reductions in resource use. Is the target of an 'excellent' rating on all new builds being met? And what scores are existing sites managing to achieve? We feel that the new display energy certificates system may be a useful method of encouraging energy savings. Would it be possible for the NHS to use this in all A or B builds?
- Could healthcare providers be obliged to regularly publish figures of their energy usage?
- Could rainwater be used for toilet flushing in all new builds?
- Where they have not already been installed, could low-energy light bulbs be installed in all buildings? Could new hospitals maximise use of natural light and use light sensors to avoid lights being left on when not in use?
- Could combined heat and power plants, and other renewable energies be the prime energy source in all new buildings and refurbishments?
- Could recycled materials be used in all construction work?
- Could catering waste be composted?
- Could more clinical waste be sterilised rather than disposed of?
We look forward to hearing your reply to our questions, including each of these eight specific points.
Yours sincerely....
