Centre for Sustainable Healthcare

When NHS England leaders warn that the health service is on “high alert” because of a conflict thousands of miles away, it’s hard to imagine the reason. But the recent Iran conflict – and the instability it triggered in the Strait of Hormuz – has had a direct, tangible effect on the NHS. Not because the UK imports medicines from Iran. Not because the NHS is involved in the conflict. But because modern healthcare depends on resource-intensive procurement models built on petrochemicals. Read more in the latest CSH guest blog by Maia Shouksmith, Foundation year 1 resident doctor and Alhaji Bangura, PhD scholar, University of Wolverhampton:
https://sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/petrochemicals-procurement-and-patient-safety/

Know a green space healthcare project that deserves some recognition? Nominate them for an NHS Forest award! It only takes a few minutes to let someone know you recognise their hard work and commitment to nature and health. https://nhsforest.org/nhs-forest-award-nomination/

How do you help communities who are struggling embrace sustainable preventative healthcare? You give them tools that are actually centred around them. This we're sharing how our work on Green Health Routes in the North East helped “quite literally put the forests on the local community map” and encouraged communities to experience the extensive mental (and physical) health benefits of spending time walking in nature. Working in partnership with Forestry England with funding from Sport England through the National Lottery, we connected with primary care providers and created a series of resources including guides, maps, virtual walks and events to remove some of the real barriers people experience when trying to use the green spaces on their doorsteps. Find out more in our blog:
https://nhsforest.org/blog/case-study/green-health-routes-partnership-model/

Photography walks as part of the Green Health Routes North East project.

Book your free place !!Co-opSimon Thurlow PhotographyCentre for Sustainable HealthcareForestry England GuisboroughThe Digital Lighthouse

Last call to help us plant 6,000 trees on healthcare sites. There is still time to donate and every donation will be doubled thanks to generous support by Aviva. Donate now to put nature at the heart of our healthcare: https://bit.ly/nhsforest

Help us plant 6,000 new trees on healthcare sites — and double your donation thanks to match funding from Aviva until the end of March.

Our NHS Forest programme plants trees to create calming, natural spaces that support patient recovery and give healthcare staff a place to breathe and recharge.

If you can, please support our crowdfunder and help grow more healing, green spaces across healthcare sites.
Donate here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/the-nhs-forest-project-sponsored-tree-planting

Help improve the Nature for Health Resource Hub.
We’re looking for staff working in healthcare settings to help test and improve the Nature for Health Resource Hub. Join a short online focus group on 8 or 15 April and share your insights.

The hub brings together practical tools and resources to support healthcare organisations in developing green space projects that benefit patients, staff and nature. As the hub continues to evolve, we are keen to understand how it is being experienced in practice and how it can better support those working across healthcare estates, sustainability and clinical services. Your insights will directly inform the next stage of the hub’s development and help ensure it remains relevant, accessible and supportive of green space initiatives across healthcare settings.

Participants will also have the opportunity to:
✅ discover resources that may support their own green space work
✅ share experiences and ideas with peers working across the healthcare system
✅ contribute to shaping a growing central repository of resources supporting nature recovery in healthcare

If you are interested in taking part, please complete the short registration form by 31 March. We will begin confirming places shortly after. https://forms.office.com/e/ERaFsyeY9Z

Do they serve oysters at the Freeman Hospital? No. But they have oystercatchers. Read more about the incredible bird life making itself at home at the Freeman Hospital in our latest blog from ranger Duika Burges Watson. https://nhsforest.org/blog/the-big-hospital-birdwatch/

The CSH team are busy this month raising money for our crowdfunder by doing a sponsored Move through March. We're planning to walk the equivalent of the length of the UK (1407km) between us by the end of March to raise money for the NHS Forest and plant 6,000 more trees on UK healthcare sites. We've already covered over 350km! If you'd like to donate, or do your own fundraising challenge, visit our crowdfunder: https://bit.ly/nhsforest