One of Scotland’s leading healthcare innovation organisations has welcomed a ‘vital and timely’ academic collaboration for improved integration of sustainable learnings into undergraduate medical degrees

The announcement of a £100,000 grant from the Scottish Government will support the appointment of a Scottish Clinical Leadership Fellow who will coordinate work across the country’s five medical schools to embed sustainability principles into medical education.

The University of St Andrews is leading the landmark national initiative, where the Fellow will be based, with major contributions made by the other four Scottish medical schools — University of Glasgow, University of Dundee, University of Aberdeen and University of Edinburgh — as core members of the Scottish Sustainable Healthcare Education Board (SSHEB) which secured the funding.

Leading innovation organisation InnoScot Health says the role, spearheading a unified, cross-institutional strategy, directly supports NHS Scotland climate commitments to become a zero emissions organisation by 2040 with a net zero supply chain by 2045.

InnoScot Health’s Executive Chair Graham Watson called the move both “vital and timely,” adding: “If we are to make significant strides in tackling the country’s climate emergency, then education is where it must start.

“The appointment of a Fellow to help direct that need early on in medical education and help our NHS pivot sufficiently to hit its net zero targets is therefore a sound move, promoting both a culture change as well as cutting-edge, innovative thinking.

“We know that the healthcare sector makes a significant contribution to Scotland’s emissions, and while major steps have been taken, many more need to follow through a collaborative ‘triple helix’ ecosystem of NHS, industry, and academia. This is where that effort can receive fresh impetus.”

Major contributors to those emissions include energy use in hospitals and healthcare facilities, clinical waste, anaesthetic gases, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and travel by staff and patients.

The Fellow project builds on a white paper published by the Scottish Consortium for Sustainability in Medicine, which was launched at the Scottish Parliament earlier this year.

The paper – supported by the European Network on Climate and Health Education (ENCHE) and entitled A ‘Once for Scotland’ Approach to Embed Sustainable Healthcare Education in the Undergraduate Medical Training — outlines a national approach to preparing future doctors for the health impacts of climate change and for delivering environmentally sustainable healthcare.

Graham added: “We at InnoScot Health continue to see huge value in supporting early-stage innovators to take their ideas to the next level and believe that encouraging the drive for greener healthcare is an important facet of that.

“With the new Fellow set to coordinate work across Scotland’s five medical schools, embedding principles of environmentally sustainable healthcare into curricula, while aligning medical education with NHS Scotland climate commitments, it is a very positive move.”

Gareth Miles, Assistant Vice Principal, Dean of Science at St Andrews, said: “This work shows that, by coming together, Scotland’s universities can lead with clarity and purpose. The white paper sets out a coherent national framework, the first of its kind in Scottish medical education, for embedding sustainable healthcare in undergraduate medical education.”

The University of Aberdeen’s Dr Alison Jack, a co-author of the white paper, said the programme would help improve patient care while reducing environmental impact.

She stated: “The collaboration between all five Scottish medical schools has created a powerful network of committed faculty who can make meaningful change together and bring about benefits for patients, stakeholders and the environment on which we all depend.”

The Scottish Clinical Leadership Fellow is expected to take up post in August 2026.

InnoScot Health launched a sustainability innovation call in 2022.