A collaboration between UCLH, UCL and industry to cut use of anaesthetic gases has been awarded £99,703 by SBRI Healthcare – an NHS funded programme to support an historic drive to deliver a net zero NHS.
Anaesthetic gases alone are responsible for over 2% of all NHS emissions. Entonox (commonly known as gas and air) is a cheap, highly effective painkiller used by 80% of women in labour and millions of patients worldwide, but is 300 times more environmentally damaging than carbon dioxide.
Elegant Design and Solutions Ltd, the company which developed the breathing system, called Envirolieve®, is collaborating with UCL and UCLH's Prof Ramani Moonesinghe and anaesthetists and academics at the University of Plymouth, University of Nottingham and University Hospitals Birmingham, to bring to market this novel breathing system that significantly reduces Entonox consumption at the point of use.
The award is one of 10 in the first ever net zero focused SBRI Healthcare competition, designed to bring benefits to patients and care service users, whilst reducing carbon emissions.
The competition aimed to identify innovations to tackle key challenges including reducing emissions from care miles, reducing emissions from surgical pathways, reducing nitrous oxide emissions as well as tools to support low-carbon decision-making.
Climate change is a growing threat to global health, impacting on both the provision of services and the resilience of healthcare systems. In the UK, air pollution accounts for 1 in 20 deaths with harmful emissions causing increased cases of asthma, cancer and heart disease.
In response to this reality, the NHS became the world’s first healthcare system to commit to a target of net zero emissions.
The scheme was developed in partnership with the Greener NHS Programme, AHSN Network and Accelerated Access Collaborative.
SBRI Healthcare is a cutting-edge programme funded by the NHS to support the development of new innovations which meet known NHS challenges.
Prof Moonesinghe said: “We are delighted to have won SBRI funding and to be part of this historic drive to help the NHS deliver on its net zero commitment.
“Climate change is a pressing emergency on the planet and to people’s lives, so together with the other award winners, we’re excited to help the NHS set the global standard in terms of reducing healthcare carbon emissions.”
Dr Nick Watts, Chief Sustainability Officer, NHS England and NHS Improvement, said: “It’s fantastic to see the wide range of organisations engaged with the first net zero focused SBRI Healthcare competition. Innovation is key to developing new tools and technologies to deliver a net zero NHS and investment will encourage action, reduce the costs of decarbonisation across the sector and improve health and care now and for generations to come.”
