Climate Emergency and Healthcare in the NHS (CLEANER NHS)

医疗机构，包括医院和医疗设施，在碳排放中发挥着重要作用。该行业脱碳的必要性源于其对环境的重大影响以及天气和气候危害的影响，这些危害增加了健康紧急情况，影响了医疗基础设施，降低了提供全面健康覆盖的能力。在这种情况下，NHS已经制定了一个目标，旨在到2040年实现其控制的排放量的碳中和，并到2045年实现其可以影响的排放量，为通过《2022年卫生与保健法》将净零承诺纳入立法框架提供了途径。本研究项目旨在建立有效的政策反馈机制，零标准增强，使用同一枚硬币的两面：缓解和适应战略与医疗保健环境中的净零一致。该项目的合作伙伴，诺森比亚医疗保健NHS基金会信托，最近通过在其总部和诺森伯兰郡和泰恩赛德郡的9座二级护理大楼同时实施项目，启动了脱碳行动计划，展示了对净零议程的积极承诺。建筑环境是能源消耗，废物产生，建筑，以及资源密集型材料的使用。该研究项目将通过评估NHS近年来采取的重大举措来解决这一问题，这些举措包括采用能源效率，向可再生能源过渡以及优化HVAC系统等。然而，由于建筑年代和风格的多样性，房地产投资面临着巨大的挑战，包括隔热性能差和玻璃效率低下等问题。除了上述挑战外，NHS碳中和目标实现的主要障碍在于其结构设置的复杂性，决策依赖于官僚机构，以及缺乏精确的执行，没有按照实现净零目标的严格时限调整行动。值得注意的是，在2023年引入首个“NHS净零建筑标准”是关键的一步。然而，该标准目前还处于早期阶段，需要在随后的几年中根据反馈、最佳实践和数据收集进行反复完善。此外，除了标准尚不成熟之外，还明显缺乏既定的反馈机制。因此，即使地方NHS信托基金开始制定和实施脱碳计划，仍然没有途径系统地将成果，评估和经验教训纳入国家一级的连贯反馈系统。这就提出了将理论框架转化为实际日常应用的关键问题。它促进了对不同项目类型的执行效率的调查，在整体度量管理系统内建立强大的跟踪，测量和评估机制，以及收集和整合成果和经验教训，并将其纳入国家气候行动框架。解决这一系列广泛的问题对于NHS有效实现其目标至关重要。

Healthcare settings, encompassing hospitals and medical facilities, play a substantial role in carbon emissions. The imperative to decarbonize this sector arises from the significant environmental impact it poses as well as the effects of weather and climate hazards which increase health emergencies, and affect healthcare infrastructure, reducing the ability to offer comprehensive health coverage. In this context, the NHS has established a target aiming to achieve carbon neutrality for the emissions that it controls by 2040, and for the emissions that it can influence by 2045, setting out a pathway for incorporating net-zero commitments into legislative framework through the 'Health and Care Act 2022'.This research project aims to establish effective policy feedback mechanisms for resilient net-zero standard enhancements, using the two sides of the same coin: mitigation and adaptation strategies consistent with net-zero in healthcare settings. The project partner, Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, has recently demonstrated a proactive commitment to the net-zero agenda by initiating the establishment of decarbonization action plans through simultaneous project implementations across its head office and 9 secondary care buildings within Northumberland and Tyneside.The built environment is one of the major carbon emissions' contributors through energy consumption, waste generation, construction, and the use of resource-intensive materials. This research project will address this by assessing the significant initiatives that the NHS has undertaken in recent years, through diverse actions such as the adoption of energy efficiency, the transition to renewable energy sources, and the optimization of HVAC systems. However, the estate investment confronts substantial challenges due to the diversity in building age and styles, encompassing issues like poor insulation and inefficient glazing. These challenges are compounded by variations in operational uses and demands, poor carbon recording and monitoring, underscoring the complexity of achieving carbon neutral in this sector.In addition to the aforementioned challenges, a primary impediment to the NHS carbon neutral goal attainment lies in the intricacies of its structural settings, decision-making reliant on bureaucracy, and the absence of precise implementation in aligning actions with the stringent timelines mandated for the net-zero goal achievement. Notably, the introduction of the inaugural 'NHS Net Zero Building Standard' in 2023 represents a pivotal step. However, the standard is currently in its early stages, requiring iterative refinement over subsequent years based on feedback, best practices, and data collection.Moreover, in addition to the prematurity of the standard, there is a conspicuous absence of an established feedback mechanism. Consequently, even as local NHS trusts embark on developing and implementing their decarbonization plans, there remains no avenue to systematically integrate outcomes, evaluations, and lessons learned into a cohesive feedback system at the national level. This raises critical questions about the translation of theoretical frameworks into practical, everyday applications. It prompts inquiry into the efficiency of execution across diverse project typologies, the establishment of robust tracking, measurement, and evaluation mechanisms within a holistic metric management system, and the collection and integration of outcomes and lessons learned back into a national framework for climate action. Addressing this extensive array of questions is imperative for the NHS to effectively achieve its target.