Health and Sustainability Hub

Addressing Single-Use Plastic and Waste in Public Health Wales’ Microbiology Labs

The report highlights the highest carbon emission single-use plastic and waste items used in PHW’s Microbiology Laboratories and identifies recommendations to switch to more sustainable alternatives. The solutions identified can be replicated across the wider healthcare sector.

Research on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and shift to more agile working, on Public Health Wales’ carbon footprint

The report looks at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and shift to more agile working on Public Health Wales’ carbon footprint, focusing on both operational and staff homeworking emissions. The report covers four key areas of emissions, procurement, travel, business/ site and homeworking. The emissions for each area have been calculated for 2019/20 and 2020/21 to compare the difference between the two years, identifying the impact on our carbon footprint for each key area, along with key insights and recommendations.

Understanding the impact of COVID-19 on Public Health Wales’ Emissions

The five infographics share the key findings and recommendations of the research project to look at the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and shift to more agile working on Public Health Wales Carbon Footprint. The infographics cover the overall findings and the impact on emissions for the four key areas; procurement, homeworking, business/ site and travel emissions. They include detail on the overall recommendations for PHW, along with suggestions on how individuals can help to reduce their carbon emissions.

Resources for Sustainable Health

Helping organisations and individuals to consider the natural environment and the health of the planet and people in everything they do. The Resources for Sustainable Health e-catalogue gives a brief summary of all the resources produced by the Health and Sustainability Hub. The resources promoted in the e-catalogue will help teams and individuals reduce their impact on the environment and climate change, and encourage sustainable behaviour in both their work and home life. The resources are a mixture of e-briefs, reports and toolkits, which bring together research, ideas, suggestions and practical actions. Some are aimed at individual or team level, some at organisation, national, or international policy level, to support sustainability, improve health and well-being, help embed the Well-being of Future Generations Act and reduce our impact on the planet.

SIFT Healthy Environment Workshop

The SIFT Healthy Environment workshop provides an opportunity for teams to identify their environmental impacts and do something to reduce them. It not only looks at the activity of the whole team but also of the individuals that form the team. The SIFT Healthy Environment workshop is based on four strategic themes (decarbonisation, biodiversity, zero waste and climate change) to enable teams to develop an action plan to reduce their environmental impact and contribute to any existing environmental management systems within their organisation.

Be the Change – Procurement that doesn’t cost the earth

Procurement is costly. Welsh public sector spends £7 billion on procurement. A huge 62% of the 2018/19 carbon footprint for NHS Wales was from procurement. Sustainable procurement can mean considering not buying things at all, buying energy and resource efficient goods, ethical goods such as Fairtrade coffee, or locally sourced products and services which support local businesses. It can also support the delivery of organisational priorities and well-being objectives, and ultimately improve the economic, environmental, social, and cultural well-being of Wales. The e-guide gives advice for anyone buying goods and services on ways we can take action by thinking about what we need, where it comes from, how long it will last and the impact it has on people, nature and planet.

Cutting our Carbon Emissions

This infographic explains why climate change is a significant threat to health. It includes facts about climate change and suggests actions we can all take to reduce our impact to help protect human health as well as the health of the planet.

Be the Change Well-being Goals Challenge

The Well-being Goals Challenge sets out six separate behaviour change challenges that inspire us to act to live more sustainably. They are designed to be undertaken on your own, with your team mates or as a team to team challenge. Drawing on Wales’ Well-being Goals and the wider United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, the challenges focus on Slow Fashion, Plant-based Diet, Towards Zero Waste, Healthy Travel, Ethical Consumer and Supporting Wildlife, with sustainable steps provided to guide you on your challenge journey.

Helping Nature to Flourish

Nature is declining globally at rates unprecedented in human history and the rate of species extinctions is accelerating, with grave impacts mow likely on people around the world. Our health and well-being depends upon a healthy environment, which includes using our natural resources in a sustainable way and supporting biodiversity. This e-guide will help individuals take action for biodiversity at every opportunity to reverse its decline in Wales and globally, for its intrinsic value, and to secure our own well-being.

Rebecca Masters

Rebecca is the consultant lead for the Health & Sustainability Hub and is PHW’s lead on the climate change strategic priority – Tackling the public health effects of climate change.

Eurgain Powell

Eurgain leads the Hub’s work on climate change, supporting the new strategic priority and helping staff to understand what climate change means for their roles.

Ann Jones

Ann is working to raise awareness and understanding of the Well-being of Future Generations Act as an enabling framework to help us to work towards a sustainable and fairer Wales, leading to good health and well-being, now and for future generations.

Tracy Evans

Tracy is working to raise awareness and understanding of sustainability and help staff reduce their carbon emissions, as part of the Hub’ s work programme and to support the delivery of PHW’s Decarbonisation Action Plan.

Helen Bradley

Helen helps co-ordinate and support the team’s work particularly around communications, staff engagement, measuring impact and biodiversity.