Healthcare professionals are urged to undertake carbon audits, make more careful use of electricity, reduce waste, and insulate premises, in a new report on climate change.

The report, Health Professionals: Taking Action on Climate Change, published by the British Medical Association in April, also calls for greater use of electronic communication. NHS healthcare facilities spend £400 million a year on energy and have an annual emission of some 1 million tonnes of carbon, it says.

‘As the biggest employer in the UK and one with a considerable carbon footprint, it needs to take urgent action to reduce its emissions,’ the report warns.

It calls for reductions in paper use, recycling, avoidance of bottled water and cutting use of heating and air-conditioning. ‘Communicate with other healthcare professionals and patients by email or telephone wherever possible,’ it suggests. It also advises ‘Ask to be taken off the direct mail lists of pharmaceutical companies and other companies who regularly post you materials you do not read’.

It cites construction and building design as a major area for environmental improvement and calls for the use of materials which will reduce the need for heating and artificial light.

See feature on the UK's first carbon neutral practice, page 30.