VICDOC Summer 2023 - Magazine - Page 21
I can’t change the big picture items like species mass
extinction or biodiversity loss, climate change, over
consumption, overpopulation. What I can change is
what happens on a day-to-day basis in my sphere
of influence, and within the healthcare system.
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Learn more about
net zero healthcare
Learn more about
planetary healthcare
WE NEED AN EVIDENCE BASE FOR THE COST
EFFECTIVENESS BUT ALSO THE SUSTAINABILITY
OF MORE NECESSARY CHANGES.
THE NEW MELTON HOSPITAL WILL BE
THE FIRST ALL-ELECTRIC HOSPITAL IN
VICTORIA, AND THE THIRD IN THE COUNTRY.
There’s been some good work done on
this already – mostly by people on the
ground. But what’s the carbon footprint of
surgeons undertaking one operation versus
another equivalent approach? What’s the
carbon footprint for giving intravenous
fluids to a patient? These are increasingly
important questions for which there are
currently no answers for most clinical
scenarios. We require investment to
study the carbon footprint of healthcare
to develop a supply chain and carbon
footprint inventory of all the stuff that we
use. We’ve just written another NHMRC
Centre of Research Excellence grant
application for just that.
It was great to work with the Western
Health Chief Executive Officer, Chief
Operations Officer, senior medical and
nursing staff, and the Board to achieve this.
It took a lot of effort at very high levels to
get this new all-electric, no gas hospital
approved. Melton is due for completion
by 2029, and the plan is also that it will be
powered by 100 per cent renewable energy,
because the government’s promise is that in
or by 2025 all public hospitals in Victoria
will be 100% renewable electricity. And of
course, renewable electricity swings the
dial to reusables (equipment) even more.
It’s another really satisfying example of
macro level change.
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