Green campaigners urge staff to set example by cutting carbon footprint.

摘要

WHO USES and manages the largest proportion of NHS resources? The answer, according to the NHS Sustainable Development Unit (SDU) for England, is nurses, and the resources they manage go largely on equipment, medicines and travelling costs.The SDU is now targeting nurses and nurse managers as part of a campaign to reduce carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions, improve patient health and save money. It has drawn up a five-point action plan, 5 to Survive, to promote, for example, greater use of local suppliers and the use teleconferencing instead of face-to-face meetings.Healthcare managers can influence patients' behaviour and can, therefore, act as role models for sustainability, says SDU director for England David Pencheon. 'If a district nurse comes to you in a hybrid car or an electric vehicle, you may think to yourself that society is changing. We know people will listen because they did that years ago after doctors started talking about the health risks of smoking.'