Transitioning to sustainable, climate-resilient healthcare: insights from a health service staff survey in Australia.

BACKGROUND: More than 80 countries, including Australia, have made commitments to deliver climate-resilient and low carbon healthcare. Understanding how healthcare workers view their own and their organization's efforts to achieve sustainable and climate-resilient healthcare practice is vital to inform strategies to accelerate that transition. METHODS: We conducted an online staff survey in a large state government hospital-and-health-service organisation in Queensland, Australia, to ascertain attitudes and practices towards environmentally sustainable, climate-resilient healthcare, and views about the organizational support necessary to achieve these goals in their workplace. RESULTS: From 301 participants showed staff strongly support implementing sustainable and climate-resilient healthcare but require significantly more organizational support. Participants identified three categories of organizational support as necessary for the transition to environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient health services and systems: (1) practical support to make sustainability easier in the workplace (e.g. waste, energy, water, procurement, food, transport etc.); (2) training and education to equip them for 21st century planetary health challenges; and (3) embedding sustainability as 'business as usual' in healthcare culture and systems. CONCLUSIONS: The research provides new insight into health workforce views on how organizations should support them to realize climate and sustainability goals. This research has implications for those planning, managing, implementing, and educating for, the transition to environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient health services and systems in Queensland, Australia, and in similar health systems internationally.

Delivering environmental sustainability in healthcare for future generations: Time to clean up our own cubby house.

Children and future generations will be those most affected by climate change, and paediatricians have a moral responsibility to preserve a secure and habitable world for them. Despite our pledge to 'first do no harm', the health-care sector itself is a major contributor to global warming and environmental degradation. These contributions are projected to rise unless urgent measures are undertaken to decarbonise. Fortunately, an increasing number of individuals, health institutions, organisations and government agencies are taking action to shift this trajectory. Opportunities to reduce emissions and improve environmental sustainability in the health-care sector are vast. If done well, sustainable climate-smart health care offers opportunities for financial, environmental, and social gains - a 'triple win'. By getting our own house in order, the health sector can influence action throughout our economy and society, realise the health co-benefits of climate action and fulfil our obligation to help minimise the growing health impacts of climate change.