The Net Zero Healthcare Mission
From Transforming Tomorrow by The Pentland Centre for Sustainability in Business
June 1, 2026 · 49 min · Season 3 · Episode 34
About this episode
The episode discusses how healthcare can achieve net zero carbon emissions, focusing on the NHS's commitment and the implications for patient care.
How can healthcare achieve net zero? Where do sustainability considerations stand in the long list of priorities for England’s National Health Service? And could your anaesthetic be better for the planet? Dr Cliff Shelton, a consultant and professor in anaesthesia and perioperative medicine in the NHS and at Lancaster University Medical School; and Dr Fanny Burrows, Senior Lead on Net Zero Research and Innovation in the Greener NHS Programme for NHS England (which means more than painting the walls), are two people who can provide the answers to these and many other questions. We learn why the NHS in England has committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2045, what the implications are of this goal, and how patient care will be affected and even improved by the actions necessary to reach it. We look at how research and innovation can help healthcare sustainability, what changes have already been made, how waste can be and has been cut, and why some anaesthetics can be bad for the environment. Cliff and Fanny talk to us about why patients should not feel responsibility for the carbon footprint of their care; how other health services around the world are following the UK’s lead…
People in this episode
Host: Jan
Guests: Dr Cliff Shelton, Dr Fanny Burrows
Topics covered
- net zero
- healthcare sustainability
- NHS
- anaesthesia
- carbon emissions
- patient care
- research and innovation
Keywords
- net zero
- NHS
- sustainability
- anaesthetics
- carbon footprint
- healthcare
- research
- innovation
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: NHS England, Lancaster University Medical School, Greener NHS Programme
Places: England
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