Implementing and evaluating the Actions for Sustainability Toolkit to improve hospital environmental sustainability across the Northern Territory Health System

Project Details

Healthcare contributes 7% of Australia’s total greenhouse gas emissions. Of these emissions, public hospitals contribute 34%, while private hospitals add another 10%, making them the most carbon-intense part of the healthcare system. To address this, Doctors for the Environment Australia’s Sustainable Healthcare Special Interest Group developed the Hospital Sustainability Toolkit. This toolkit aims to provide hospitals with a governance structure to emulate and operationalise sustainability efforts. However, due to the novelty of the toolkit, it is unclear how it could be effectively implemented in a hospital system. This project therefore seeks to determine the acceptability, adoption, appropriateness, and feasibility of implementing the toolkit in six public hospitals in the Northern Territory. Findings may be used to inform the scaling of the toolkit in other hospital settings in Australia

Project Partners

• NT Health

Researchers

Ebony Verbunt, PhD Candidate, University of Melbourne

A/Prof Nicole Rankin, EIS Unit Head, University of Melbourne

Dr Sonia Chanchlani, Senior Fellow, Sustainability, Climate and Health Critical Care, University of Melbourne (Principal investigator)

Dr Ben Dunne, Co-convenor for the Sustainable Healthcare Special Interest Group, Doctors for the Environment Australia

Maja van Bruggen, Director Sustainability Action, NT Health

Jade Tavane, Sustainability Education and Engagement Lead, NT Health

Lynette Smart, Sustainability Performance Analyst, NT Health

Dr Mark De Souza, Chair of Sustainable Healthcare Committee, Top End Region

Professor Eugenie Kayak, Enterprise Professor, Sustainable Healthcare Critical Care, University of Melbourne

Funding