A new ‘Green Champion Network’ is a positive development in NHS Scotland’s vital collective drive to achieve net zero emissions by 2040, says a health service partner.

NHS Western Isles launched the Network last week which it calls “a dedicated team committed to promoting environmental sustainability within the healthcare sector,” aligning with the Outer Hebrides-serving health board’s pledge to help address the global climate emergency.

The Green Champion Network aims to help deliver sustainable healthcare services by uniting ​staff members from various departments and medical practices throughout the Western Isles who will “lead and inspire eco-friendly practices across the organisation”.

Formal NHS Scotland partner InnoScot Health insists that such initiatives must be fostered across every health board in order to achieve the collective net zero aim.

Head of Project Management Gillian Henderson said: “We are pleased to hear of these lower carbon efforts which we hope will inspire other health boards across Scotland to follow suit.

“When adopted across the country, initiatives like these can add up to a huge difference, meaning a greener health service, but also of course less environmental impact on the health and wellbeing of the people it is treating.

“With the Green Champion Network, NHS Western Isles should be celebrated for its pioneering, collaborative thinking in actively identifying more environmentally friendly approaches, from energy conservation and waste reduction drives to encouraging sustainable travel amid greater community engagement.”

She added: “Inspiring environmental stewardship in unique rural areas can be extremely impactful, helping to ensure thriving communities while preserving precious natural resources for future generations.

“In healthcare terms, that can mean engaging local communities in the planning and delivery of healthcare services to help ensure specific local needs are met, and inspiring innovative practices with the NHS Western Isles workforce being particularly well-placed to understand exactly where the issues and potential solutions lie.”

Green Champion, Chief Pharmacist Sue Price, said: “Since starting work at Western Isles Hospital, I have become more conscious of the sustainable changes that could be made quite simply. These changes will bring a reduction in carbon footprint whilst reducing bills.”

The formation of the Green Champion Network underlines NHS Western Isles’ sustainability initiatives, outlined in its annual Climate Emergency and Sustainability Reports, including a significant 24% drop in medical gases emissions.

InnoScot Health continues to champion and encourage greener workforce innovation, through its sustainability call. This aims to inspire health and social care professionals to come forward with their ideas for greener ways of working that can help the health service adapt and strengthen. Ideas are welcome from all roles and disciplines across NHS Scotland.

Only recently, the InnoScot Health team supported midwives working at St John’s Hospital in Livingston on the development of a sustainable neonatal innovation. The product, which aids skin-to-skin contact while allowing birthing partners to keep newborns warm, utilises upcycled staff fleeces as a covering material in the manufacture of modified scrubs.

Alongside NHS Lothian’s Research and Development team, InnoScot Health helped protect and register the design, meaning that Cozy Cuddle Scrubs (by Stacey)™ can now be made more widely available through manufacturing partners, supporting positive neonatal outcomes across the country and beyond.