Background The climate crisis is the largest threat facing human health, with NHS carbon emissions contributing significantly. The Green Impact for Health (GIFH) toolkit was created to assist GPs in decreasing emissions, but increasing workload leads to difficulties in making progress. Aim The aim of this project was to complete various toolkit tasks to understand environment-friendly care, implement sustainable actions, and learn about leadership while engaging with healthcare professionals. Method The students were assigned to Richmond Medical Centre (RMC) and Ecclesfield Group Practice (EGP) for this project. At RMC, we worked on two different audits. The first entailed iron dose reductions for patients based on new evidence — fewer side effects, similar effectiveness, and reduced waste. The other audit focused on switching patients with asthma to eco-friendly inhalers and addressing their salbutamol overuse. At EGP, the activities involved energy saving — constructing graphs of monthly bills and calculating lighting and electricity use across the practice. Results Overall, the GIFH toolkit tasks that were completed netted 20 points, and led to the acquisition of bronze awards in key domains such as prescribing, quality improvement, and energy saving. Conclusion The broader scope of this project has allowed for a greater understanding of how minor and consistent efforts towards saving costs and decreasing polypharmacy can result in improved patient outcomes and care. A detailed handover was also made for future students participating in Green Impact activities — this ensures clear communication about previous actions and how to begin progressing towards silver and gold toolkit prizes.
Adithya Ajith (Thu,) studied this question.