Improving Pharmaceutical Sustainability

Context

Climate change negatively impacts health.  ‘A Stronger, Greener, Fairer Wales for Everyone’¹ includes embedding climate sustainability into practice.  ‘Let’s not Waste’² recognises the need to reduce waste within health and social care.

Pharmaceuticals (excluding inhalers) contribute ~40%, & metered dose inhalers, an additional 22%, of Primary Care’s carbon footprint³. Water contaminated by pharmaceuticals harms biodiversity.

Whilst Cardiff West Cluster participates in Wales’s ’Green Inhaler’ other areas require addressing: approximately 10% of medicines are ‘over-prescribed’;⁴ recycling pharmaceutical packaging and inhalers.

Concept

To embed changes within Cardiff West Cluster to reduce pharmaceutical environmental impact, and ascertain feasibility of replicating sustainable pharmaceutical initiatives across Wales.

Engagement with Cluster staff and patients will be central so all understand benefits of sustainable medicine, impact of climate change on health and; feel empowered to help reduce pharmaceuticals environmental impact.

Engagement, research & analysis, will enable development and implementation of a Cluster ‘Sustainable Medicine Plan’.

Outcome analysis will facilitate higher level discussions on requirements for sustainable medicine practice.

Implementation

Cluster staff and patient education, discussions and questionnaires to generate ideas to improve pharmaceutical sustainability and identify barriers. Analysis of pharmaceutical sustainability projects to identify good practice and potential implementation barriers.

Data anaylsis and discussion will feed into a ‘Cluster sustainable medicine plan’.

Implement ‘Cluster sustainable medicine plan’ initatives. Baseline and post implementation data will include medicine ‘over-ordering’; medicine avoidable related admissions; recycling & disposal of medicines.

Outcome analysis will indicate feasibilty of replicating sustainable initiatives.

Anticipated benefits

1. Reduced pharmacuetical impact on planet health
2. Improved patient care
3. Stronger patient – health professional relationship
4. Financial: reduction in prescribing unwanted medicines
5. Increased co-operation between staff within Cluster
6. Decrease in pharmaceutical residues in waterways
7. Decrease in medicine related admissions
8. Identifying patients requiring support managing medicines

References

1. ‘Stronger, Fairer, Greener Wales’

https://www.gov.wales/sites/default/files/publications/2022-05/stronger-fairer-greener-wales-plan-employability-and-skills0.pdf

2. ‘Let’s not Waste’ https://bevancommission.org/lets-not-waste/

3. Faculty of Public Health: The NHS Carbon Footprint

https://www.fph.org.uk/media/3126/k9-fph-sig-nhs-carbon-footprint-final.pdf

4. ‘Good for you, good for us, good for everybody’ Dept of Health & Social Care 2021

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/614a10fed3bf7f05ab786551/good-for-you-good-for-us-good-for-everybody.pdf