Collaborating to facilitate transformational change in clinical school sustainability
The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) ran its inaugural Sustainability Competition in 2022, receiving 13 entries across clinical and non-clinical teams who discovered innovative ways to reduce emissions and waste associated with their services.
The 2023 competition took place across three hospital sites in Parkville.
In 2023, Dr Sonia Chanchlani, Sustainability, Climate and Health Senior Fellow in the Melbourne Medical School, worked with Dr Ben Dunne, thoracic surgeon and RMH Sustainability Clinical Lead, to update competition resources and expand it to include staff at the Royal Women’s Hospital and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
The competition welcomed 17 entries across the three participating sites, which cumulatively prevented 140,000kg CO2e from being emitted, kept three tonnes of hospital waste out of landfill, and saved $160,000 in healthcare costs.
Entries included operating theatres disconnecting their piped nitrous oxide (a very potent greenhouse gas) to prevent leakage, a project that safely reduced unnecessary coagulation testing, and a project that reduced unnecessary cannulation in emergency departments.
The University of Melbourne has been collaborating with the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare in the United Kingdom to become a recognised Beacon Site and to develop an interprofessional workshop on evidence-based sustainable healthcare quality improvement project management.
These workshops will be held in mid-late 2024, with a new resource pack in development to support participants in future Parkville Precinct Sustainability Competitions. The Climate CATCH Lab at the University of Melbourne will also welcome competition participants for a showcase event later in the year.