In a series of blogs on sustainable healthcare that looks at health and sustainability, British Medical Journal (BMJ) shares ideas from experts across the healthcare field, some of whom are speaking at the CleanMed Europe 2013 conference: Pathways to Sustainable Healthcare in September. Rachel Stancliffe, founder and director of the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare Mahmood Bhutta, founding member of the BMA Medical Fair and Ethical Trade Group speak in their intro to the blog series about how hospital financial constraints should include consideration of the wider impact of healthcare provision on the global need to care for the environment:
There is often such a disconnect between our day-to-day working and the global view of healthcare provision. What difference can we as individuals make? Quite a bit, we would argue, not least because we are seen as ambassadors for change. Over the coming weeks, clinicians and experts on sustainable healthcare will discuss what that might mean in practice, and how we as doctors and other healthcare professionals can engage.
We are motivated by the understanding that there is a really crucial interplay between health, the environment, and labour conditions. If we understand this interplay, and act on our knowledge in a scientific way, we can use this to help us solve some of the greatest problems of our time: climate change, social inequality, and a healthcare system which is near breaking point for many reasons.
The blog’s contributors hope these series of blogs will inform, provoke and ultimately inspire an understanding of the urgency required and benefits accrued to a system of healthcare that engages fully with its environmental and ethical aspects.
Access the Sustainability Blog Series here