Sustainable health services are crucial to reducing NHS’s carbon footprint, conference hears

An “integrated” national strategy to promote sustainable services across England’s health, public health, and social care system has been launched.

Senior health and local government figures said that the plan would help organisations to deal with deep social and financial problems and to build community resilience to cope with climate change.

The strategy was launched on 29 January in London by the Sustainable Development Unit, which is funded by NHS England and Public Health England.1

It is not backed by extra funding, but it encourages organisations and their staff to develop sustainable care and business models that use resources more effectively to improve people’s health and create a healthier environment.

But David Nicholson, the NHS’s chief executive, said that more investment in outpatient care would be needed to enable people to look after their own health, as this was …