Calculating the carbon footprint of a Geriatric Medicine clinic before and after COVID-19.
Age Ageing
; 51(2)2022 02 02.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1672125
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
climate change is a health emergency. Central to addressing this is understanding the carbon footprint of our daily life and work, in order to reduce it effectively. The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has brought about rapid change to clinical practice, most notably in use of virtual clinics and personal protective equipment (PPE).AIM:
to estimate the carbon footprint of a Geriatric Medicine clinic, including the effect of virtual consultation and PPE, in order to inform design of a service that addresses both the health of our patients and our environment.METHOD:
data from the Greenhouse Gas Protocol, NHS Carbon Footprint Plus and UK Government were used to estimate the carbon emissions per consultation. Values were calculated for virtual and face-to-face contact and applied to actual clinics both before and during the COVID-19 pandemic.RESULTS:
the carbon footprint of a face-to-face clinic consultation is 4.82 kgCO2e, most of which is patient travel, followed by staff travel and use of PPE. The footprint of a virtual consultation is 0.99 kgCO2e, most of which is staff travel, followed by data use.Using our hybrid model for a single session clinic reduced our annual carbon footprint by an estimated 200 kgCO2e, roughly equivalent to a surgical operation.DISCUSSION:
the COVID-19 pandemic has made us deliver services differently. The environmental benefits seen of moving to a partially virtual clinic highlight the importance of thinking beyond reverting to 'business as usual'-instead deliberately retaining changes, which benefit the current and future health of our community.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
COVID-19
Type of study:
Experimental Studies
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Aged
/
Humans
Language:
English
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ageing
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