Sustainability

As a healthcare organisation we know we have a responsibility to play our part in tackling the challenges that climate change creates. After all, without a healthy environment, we can’t have healthy people.

View our carbon net zero offer.

SCW's Green Plan

In October 2022 we published the SCW Carbon Reduction Plan 2022, which sets out at a high level our current carbon footprint and how we are aiming to meet our target of being carbon net zero by 2040 in line with the wider NHS.

Take a look at our Green Plan. The plan sets out the detail behind how we will achieve net zero and also how we will maximise our contribution to a net zero NHS by supporting other organisations to meet their own targets.

Elena Campos Ingram, Sustainability Lead:

SCW is fully committed to achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2040 along with the rest of the NHS. I am incredibly proud to have been involved in the development of our Green Plan. It is a crucial first step in our journey towards achieving net zero as an organisation. Importantly, it also sets out how we aim to support other health and care organisations to achieve their net zero targets through the delivery of net zero services and solutions.

SCW Green Plan

We are committed to meeting the ambitious Net Zero Carbon NHS targets and supporting our NHS customers to do the same.

Read our Green Plan

Watch a summary of our Green Plan

We have a series of 11 bite-sized 30 second videos explaining our Green Plan and Care Without Carbon framework.

The eight elements of the plan are:

Partnership and collaboration
Climate adaption
Places
Journeys
Circular economy
Culture
Wellbeing
Evolving care

The SCW Net Zero Carbon Footprint dashboard

The Net Zero Carbon Footprint dashboard (see below) highlights our progress towards net zero as an organisation and will help us to proactively monitor and report on our emissions going forwards.

For more information please email the net zero team.

Human health is, of course, reliant on the health of the planet, and yet, unfortunately healthcare is part of the climate problem.

In the last two years, it’s been incredible how much people have started to talk about sustainable healthcare.

The CHIS team in SCW has come a long way to reduce their paper, time, and space wastage. We are not afraid to get carbon literate and hold our hands up in regard to the environmental impact that still remains today.

May 2022 – Our first Sustainability Café

SCW's Green Network host quarterly Sustainability Cafés for our internal colleagues to engage with our net zero ambitions. For the first café, four inspiring speakers gave presentations on their contributions to the NHS's net zero by 2040 plans, giving tangible solutions to inspire colleagues across SCW.

Contributions included:

A Green Ward competition with a project focusing on reducing unnecessary cannulation in an emergency department, causing 8400kg of CO2 to be saved over one year.
A Dare to Care campaign with over 12,000 participants pledging to be more sustainable.
A wild swimming project for the BAME communities, with hijab wetsuits included and translated into other languages for accessibility.
SCW's significant difference in the carbon footprint of the Child Health Information Services communications by changing from paper to digital. This showed how the team is exploring the potential to use digital communications to reduce the carbon footprint of delivering this service from 1.8 tonnes of CO2 to only 186 grams.

September 2022 Sustainability Café - what net zero means for SCW services

This café turned the focus to SCW, with examples of how our staff are incorporating net zero thinking into their ways of working and contributing to the delivery of greener and more sustainable healthcare through our work with customers.

Cathrine Bird, Senior IT Trainer in SCW’s Digital, Data and Technology team, shared how the SCW training team have taken up the challenges set by the Green Plan. This includes a net zero teams group created to think up new ideas, piloting a new course which incorporates sustainable messaging into GP system training and aligning team meetings with World Environment Day.

Clare Scarborough, Principal Geospatial Analyst in SCW’s Geospatial Services team, discussed how SCW are developing customer tools using world-leading Esri geospatial software to develop solutions to increase efficiency, supporting the overarching goal of helping the NHS reach net zero. View an example of how this tool works.

February 2023 Sustainability Café - the environmental impact and opportunities of digital

This café focused not only on the impacts of digital on sustainability, but also on the opportunities digital technology brings for a sustainable future.

Ben Tongue, Digital Net Zero Lead, updated the SCW Green Network on the NHS England Transformation Directorate's digital sustainability, net zero and climate resistance agendas. Ben said 'digital offers lots of sweet spot activity for decarbonisation and adaptation benefits'.

Sophie Walton, SCW Graduate Management Trainee, shared tips, tricks and easy wins for how we can use digital technology more sustainably in our work lives. This included internet and data storage, e-waste, and teamwork and file sharing.

Little Green Things

SCW’s Green Network want to help our colleagues and customers more sustainable in their daily lives as well as at work. We’ve created a set of 20 Little Green Things videos, each with a different theme, to inspire green ideas in your personal life.

Themes include: