NHS Scotland launches green healthcare programme to expand carbon and waste reductions
NHS Scotland is expanding a successful national programme that helps cut carbon emissions and waste from healthcare, following strong results from work in hospital operating theatres.
Green Healthcare Scotland, led by the Centre for Sustainable Delivery (CfSD) and hosted by NHS Golden Jubilee, is extending its approach into renal and endoscopy services - 2 of the most resource‑intensive areas of care.
The programme, being launched on Tuesday 10 March, builds on the National Green Theatres Programme, which has shown that reducing waste and energy use in hospitals can be achieved safely while maintaining high standards of patient care.
NHS Scotland is the first health system in the world to systematically reduce the use of high global‑warming‑potential anaesthetic gases such as desflurane and nitrous oxide from its supply chain in 2023 - work which received European and international recognition.
The work has already identified potential savings of more than 12,000 tonnes of carbon emissions, alongside significant financial savings for NHS Scotland.
Green Healthcare Scotland will now apply this proven, clinically-led model across the wider health system, with an initial focus on renal and endoscopy services, which are both identified as high‑impact specialties for environmental improvement.
The National Green Renal Programme aims to reduce the environmental impact of delivering renal care, particularly haemodialysis as a treatment with disproportionately high associated GHG emissions.
The Green Endoscopy Programme focuses on identifying carbon hotspots and reducing single-use plastics, better management of clinical waste and energy consumption associated with endoscopic procedures.
CfSD is also formally launching the Lean Surgical Trays initiative, a Scottish Government‑funded improvement project that will optimise surgical instrument sets by auditing and removing unnecessary items, reducing over‑processing, waste and demand on decontamination services while maintaining the highest standards of patient care.
Head of Climate Change Delivery for CfSD, David Taggart, said: “Green Healthcare Scotland is about making sustainability part of everyday clinical decision making.
“By treating environmental impact as a core element of quality and value‑based care, we are supporting teams to deliver excellent patient outcomes while reducing waste, cutting carbon and making better use of public resources.
“By cutting unnecessary waste and energy use, we can support staff, improve efficiency and help NHS Scotland meet its climate commitments.”
The Scottish Government’s National Clinical Lead for Quality and Safety, John Harden, said: “By expanding this work beyond theatres, we’re making sustainability part of everyday healthcare across Scotland. What the Green Theatres Programme showed us is that sustainability and patient safety go hand in hand.
“By reducing unnecessary waste and energy use, we can improve efficiency, support staff and deliver better value without compromising care.”
