BSW Green Team get together to check progress

The team behind making sure the BSW Green Plan stays on track to enable BSW ICB to achieve its plans for net zero and developing new ways of creating a more sustainable health and care service came together for a development day last month.

The event was attended by sustainability leads from several BSW partner organisations including hospitals and community care providers and provided an opportunity to check in on progress and discuss new ideas.

The event also provided a forum for collaborating on where the BSW system is currently in terms of achieving the current green plan,  how to address the current barriers in place and where the future of environmental sustainability needs to go next.

The BSW Green Plan sets out ambitions to  reduce the environmental and carbon impact of health and care services, with a view to achieving net zero by 2040 for direct emissions, and 2045 for wider emissions.

Net zero refers to the balance between the amount of harmful greenhouse gas produced and the amount removed from the atmosphere. For the BSW health and care system to reach net zero the amount of greenhouse gasses we add will need to be no more than the amount taken away.

The BSW Together Green Plan also sets out a sustainability plan covering buildings, travel and transport, use of resources, workforce and future care models.

Member of the group BSW ICB Chief Sustainability Officer Clinical Fellow  and Midwife Angie Willis has also published an article on being a greener leader in maternity care in the BMJ which you can read here.