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Welcome to the November edition of the Health and Social Care Climate Emergency National Programme Newsletter. Here you will find regular National Programme updates, examples of inspirational and sector transforming activity and details of how you can get involved.
Public Sector emissions reporting
The Public Sector Emissions Reporting for 2021/22 has been a huge success with 100% submission of data on time.
The completeness and quality of data has also shown a massive improvement . The response from all the organisations involved clearly demonstrates their commitment to working toward the 2030 collectively net zero ambition and the effort being put in to achieve it.
More information on this and the next round of reporting will be discussed at the next Welsh Public Sector Net Zero 2021-22 Data Workshop to be held 20th December at 10:30-12:30. Please follow the link Click here to join the meeting
Primary care contracts
On 28 October 2022 the General Medical Services (GMS) announced that there is now a Heads of Term commitment between the Welsh Government, NHS Wales and General Practitioners Committee Wales (GPC Wales) to collectively consider the decarbonisation agenda and Greener Primary Care Framework.
This work, which will be taken forward through a Task and Finish group approach will scope any potential contractual arrangements which could support the future sustainability of services. Any proposals for change will be put forward for negotiations during 2023-24.
Other primary care contractor groups are similarly committed to the decarbonisation agenda with respective professional committees for Pharmacy, Dentistry and Optometry aiming to publish Climate and Ecological Crisis Declarations in the New Year.
To support climate adaptation activity, have published cold weather advice for our Health Social Care (HSC) partners. Cold weather can pose serious health risks including hypothermia, falls and injuries, heart attacks, strokes, respiratory diseases and flu.
Energy Service – Wales wide Electric Vehicle procurement
The Energy Service are working to understand the potential to increase collaborative procurement across the whole Welsh public sector fleet, with a view to securing more certainty on availability and delivery, and possibly cost reductions, on the full range of public sector Electric Vehicles. To support this work, please can transport managers complete and return the form by Monday 5th December 2022 to Tom.Endacott@energyservice.wales.
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Wales Climate Week 2022
Wales Climate Week provides an annual opportunity for organisations, communities and individuals to engage in a national conversation on climate change.
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This year’s event kicked-off with a 3-day virtual conference including 22 sessions which explored the role of society in taking action on climate change.
The theme was chosen given the week coincided with the live consultation on a new draft Strategy for Public Engagement & Action on Climate Change.
All sessions held during the virtual conference were recorded and can be watched back via the On Demand page of the Wales Climate Week website.
A new feature introduced this year is the ‘Wales Climate Week Fringe Events programme’ where a number of physical (and virtual) events are being delivered by organisations across Wales to engage harder to reach and marginalised groups in conversations on climate change. Supported by Welsh Government funding, these Fringe Events will continue to be held up until 14 December 2022 in parallel with the consultation on the draft Strategy.
Responding to the Climate Crisis: Applying Behavioural Science
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Public Engagement and Action on Climate Change consultation |
. Have your say here.
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Net Zero Wales: Behaviour Change in the Public Sector
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Single Use Plastics Bill
A Bill banning some commonly littered single-use plastics has been laid before the Senedd to reduce plastic waste that damages wildlife and the environment in Wales. Details of items to be banned can be found here.
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If the Senedd passes the Bill, the Welsh Government anticipate the majority of bans would commence in the Autumn of 2023 and are advising stakeholders to take action now to begin the statutory transition.
A number of sectors have been identified which are likely to be impacted by the change, and include:
o Residential/Care Homes for adults and children and Hospitals
These settings will no longer be able to provide banned single-use products to individuals in their care, for example plastic cutlery, plastic plates or polystyrene food containers with meal. An exemption has been included to allow access to single-use plastic drinking straws for those that require them to eat and drink safely and independently.
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Sustainability Partnerships Digital Toolkits
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To support NHS employees, kick-start their sustainability journey, Sustainability Partnerships have partnered with a multitude of innovative businesses to develop free downloadable Digital Toolkits that provide comprehensive, insightful information on how our NHS employees can transform their daily activities into long-term changes. Take a look.
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Greener Primary Care Wales Scheme
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The Public Health Wales, Primary Care Division led Greener Primary Care Wales scheme was featured in a recent national publication of Optometry Today (OT). The article dedicated 8 pages to climate change of which the majority featured the scheme itself.
We have received feedback from the Welsh Government Chief Optometric Advisor that ‘this has been a very popular article with the profession with some notable requests for further information from UK counterparts, so a big feather in the cap for all concerned!’
The scheme has currently closed for this year so that participating practices can be audited and awards granted. It will reopen early 2023 new and existing teams to register and existing teams to continue their work.
A Yearbook celebrating year 1 which will include case studies will be published to support the reopening of the scheme in 2023.
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HEIW need
Climate Smart Champions!
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HEIW are recruiting NHS staff to become Climate Smart Champions.
This is a great opportunity for anyone with an interest in sustainability and healthcare. For information about the role, responsibilities and time commitment, please click here
19/11/22 to 12/12/22 - Free Trees!
The Welsh Government and Coed Cadw, the Woodland Trust in Wales, are offering trees across Wales, to help tackle the effects of climate change and contribute to the National Forest for Wales
23/11/22 - The Future is Electric:
Transforming Transport for the NHS webinar by Connected Kerb. View the Slideshow here if you missed it!
is launching a 10-week ‘Making Space for Growth’ learning and development programme to strengthen leadership skills for people working in climate and health! Programme Duration 30/11/2022 - 22/02/2023 - 10 weeks of learning and development spread over 14 weeks
The virtual conference will consider the potential impacts of climate change on health, as well as the potential health benefits of taking climate action. To register for the online Healthy Planet Healthy People event click here.
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We have produced two short bilingual explainer videos to simply describe the main aims and objectives of the National Programme and what you can do to help.
Please share our videos with your teams, stakeholders and networks to communicate the work we are doing.
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Tell staff and colleagues about the Climate and Health Emergency and our work
Ask your organisation about their Decarbonisation Action Plan
Share our newsletter and videos
Connect with your local Green Group
Contact us to find out more at: HSC.ClimateEmergency@gov.wales
We want to identify, share, and celebrate your best practice and case studies from across the Health and Social Care sector in Wales! If you have seen, or are involved in, exciting work that is helping to decarbonise and adapt the sector and think that others could benefit, please get in touch: HSC.ClimateEmergency@gov.wales
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