News
Amy Booth, research fellow in sustainable medicines in the Green Healthcare Hub, attended the Autumn Meeting of the European Health Policy Group (EHPG) on 24–25 September at the London School of Economics and Political Science. The EHPG is an international, multidisciplinary network bringing together researchers in health policy, health economics and health systems to encourage cross-country learning and collaboration.Amy represented the wider sustainable medicines research team (including BSMS's Professor's Michael Okorie and Mahmood Bhutta) in discussing their paper, Health system actions to support environmentally sustainable medicines: a scoping review and conceptual framework, which was accepted for discussion at the meeting. The paper brings together evidence on actions that health systems can take to reduce the environmental impacts of medicines and uses these findings to develop a conceptual framework for understanding and organising action across the medicines lifecycle.
The session involved a presentation and critique of the paper by a discussant, followed by a response from Amy, and an extended Q&A with attendees. The paper received an enthusiastic response, with strong interest from health policy and economics colleagues in medicines sustainability and particular appreciation of the relevance and actionability of the framework.
The discussion generated valuable perspectives and new connections, with opportunities for further conversations and collaborations to support progress towards more environmentally sustainable medicines.
Phil Norville recently attended the Infection Prevention Society Annual Conference exploring the challenges posed by biofilms in healthcare settings and the latest developments in decontamination methods.During his presentation, Phil highlighted the role of biofilms as persistent reservoirs for healthcare-associated pathogens and antimicrobial resistance. Found in sinks, drains, medical devices and across the wider clinical environment, he examined why established disinfectants can struggle to control biofilms and critically reviewed emerging interventions including UV-C, probiotics and bacteriophages.
A key takeaway from the session was that, while these innovative technologies have considerable potential, further real-world evaluation is needed to fully understand their effectiveness and suitability for routine use in healthcare environments.
The event provided a valuable opportunity to discuss current research, share knowledge and explore future approaches to improving infection prevention and environmental decontamination within healthcare settings.
Amy Booth attends the Autumn Meeting of the European Health Policy Group (EHPG), 24–25 September, London School of Economics and Political Science.
Phil Norville presents at the 2026 Infection Prevention Society Conference
Basharat Hussain, from the University of Nottingham and PDRA on GHH's theme 1, attended an NIHR Planetary Health Framework workshop on 2 June 2026, contributing his expertise to discussions on the future of sustainable health research. The virtual event, commissioned by the NIHR Climate, Health and Sustainability team, brought together professionals from across sectors to help develop to the NIHR Planetary Health Framework, a new set of approaches intended to complement other tools currently in development, such as SPARKHub, designed to outline direct and actionable steps to reduce the carbon footprint of research activities. The workshop focused on identifying evidence gaps, emerging priorities and best practices, while ensuring the delivery of high-quality research outcomes. Basharat’s participation supported efforts to ensure the framework reflects the latest evidence and expert consensus on planetary health and sustainability.Click on the icon to contact Basharat.
- £1.25m Leeds Facility to Advance Sustainable Healthcare
Construction is under way on a £1.25 million state-of-the-art surgical training facility in Leeds that aims to support greener healthcare and accelerate innovation across the NHS.
Known as SUSTAIN (Sustainability and Simulation Theatre for Academia and Industry), the facility will be the first of its kind in the UK, providing a realistic operating theatre environment where clinicians, researchers and industry partners can develop and test sustainable healthcare solutions.
Based at Leeds General Infirmary, the facility is a collaboration between Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, the University of Leeds, the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Accelerated Surgical Care and the Department of Health and Social Care.
The centre will help evaluate new technologies and working practices aimed at reducing waste, lowering carbon emissions and improving patient care. It will also support the NHS's ambition to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2040 and encourage the adoption of more sustainable surgical practices.
Construction is expected to be completed this summer, with the SUSTAIN lab due to open in September 2026. Project leaders hope the facility will become a national hub for sustainable healthcare research, training and innovation.Click on the icon below for more information.
- On 8 September, Jenni Wilburn, Petar Tabakov, Anna Jones and Alice Ellis attended the Environmental Sustainability in Primary Care Conference at Hove Town Hall, organised by the Brighton and Hove Federation.
Chaired by Adam Fazakerley from Sussex Primary Care Provider Collaborative, the conference was well attended by professionals from across the healthcare sector and beyond including GP’s, pharmacists and Stephen Mardlin, the Director of the Royal Sussex County Hospital, along with representatives from Care Without Carbon, POP Energy, and The Real Junk Food Project. The event aimed to facilitate knowledge sharing, foster collaboration, and develop clear recommendations and actions to be fed directly back to Brighton & Hove City Council's Health and Wellbeing Board.
Representing the Green Healthcare Hub, Petar Tabakov, Theme 3a, delivered a presentation on the role of the circular economy in healthcare and Dr Anna Jones, Clinical Teaching Fellow and Project Lead for Sustainable Healthcare in Undergraduate Medical Education at Brighton and Sussex Medical School talked about the environmental sustainability of healthcare.
Basharat Hussain Joins National Workshop on Planetary Health and Sustainability – June 26
£1.25m Leeds Facility to Advance Sustainable Healthcare – July 26
Green Healthcare Hub and BSMS attend environmental sustainability in primary care conference.
- On 17–18 March, members of the Green Healthcare Hub came together in Nottingham to share progress across the Hub’s multidisciplinary research themes.
The two-day event began with a Carbon Footprinting workshop led by Yan Wang and Ingeborg Steinbach. The session introduced participants to the core methodologies behind carbon footprinting, including process-based cradle-to-grave analysis and environmentally extended input-output analysis. Attendees also received practical, step-by-step guidance on conducting a carbon footprinting study, followed by an introduction to environmental Life Cycle Assessment.
In the evening, Hub members attended a screening at Mammoth Climate Action Cinema of It’ll Never Work, directed by Joe Osborn. The film follows the real-life challenge of converting the UK’s first fishing boat to solar and electric power while maintaining commercial competitiveness. Special thanks go to Jane Harvey for organising such a valuable experience.
Wednesday provided an opportunity for each research theme to present updates on current progress and future priorities. The event concluded with a stakeholder mapping session, helping members identify shared stakeholders and opportunities for future collaboration.
Overall, the gathering was a valuable opportunity to connect, align priorities, and strengthen the Hub’s collective commitment to building a more sustainable future for healthcare. - On Monday 22nd June, the Green Healthcare Hub hosted an interactive session entitled ‘Towards a net zero NHS: Green Healthcare Hub’ as part of the University of Sussex’s Summer of Research festival.
The event was well attended in person and online by stakeholders from different disciplines and backgrounds including, healthcare professionals, NHS supply chain, academics from within and outside of US. Dr Amy Booth and Professor Mahmood Bhutta opened the event, providing an overview of the GHH’s aims and objectives highlighting the importance of translating research into action. Following this, four of our GHH themes presented more detail of their work so far and planned activities in a series of lighting talks:- Dr Amy Booth – Sustainable Medicines Management - Systems level understanding of avoidable environmental impacts from the way medicines are managed and used in health systems and how to reduce these
- Dr Raveen Menon – Servitisation in lieu of Procurement - To evaluate alternative models of purchasing in healthcare through servitization, focusing on electrosurgical devices and endoscopes, in order to reduce environmental impact, improve resource efficiency, and inform policy and adoption.
- Prof Dimitri Petrakaki and Dr Prans Dhunnoo – Digital and Remote Care Pathways
- Prof Yan Wang – Remanufacturing and Circular Economy and AI for healthcare – Exploring Life Cycle Analysis for medical devices and reprocessing potentialWe then broke out into small discussion groups to discuss the question ‘“If we were designing the NHS from scratch today, what would we do differently to make it better for patients and planet?”. Consistent messages from these groups were:
- Patient voice and culture shift to prioritizing sustainability within the commissioning and delivery of care.
- Regular communication of emerging findings to change makers throughout the research process to embed change now.
- Determining who can and is willing to make these changes is difficult.
- Embedding change in historic systems, structures and processes is challenging.
- Move from product focus to process e.g. from linear to circular processing
- Translation of research findings into action is critical.
- Demonstrating the financial benefit of moving to re-usable will be important for sustaining buy in to these changes.Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to such a productive and thought provoking event.
- How Does the NHS Sustain Service Delivery While Meeting Short-Term Financial Targets?
Our collaborators at Aston Advanced Services Group are hosting a Healthcare centred webinar as part of their work on the Green Healthcare Hub.The discussion will explore how value is defined, delivered, and measured across healthcare systems, and how service-led business models such as managed equipment services can support a more sustainable and cost-effective future.
Speakers include;
Mark Martin, Industrial Fellow at The Advanced Services Group
Darren Riley, Managing Director of D-Hive Ltd
Phil Adams-Howell, Senior Nurse Clinical Procurement – UCLH NHS Foundation TrustWednesday, July 1st 2026 12:00–13:00 BST
For further information and to registrar, please follow the link below.
GHH Nottingham meeting – March 26
GHH hosts event: Towards a net zero NHS – June 26
How does the NHS sustain service delivery while meeting short-term financial targets? July 26