Our Roadmap to 2030Climate change has serious consequences for both public health and effective delivery of healthcare. The risks and potential consequences are recognised in the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (UKCCRA3), summarised in the health and social care briefing produced in 2021 (part of a broader project led by SWM to improve the accessibility of the UKCCRA).
Understanding, anticipating, and adapting to these new challenges is essential to developing a more climate-resilient NHS. In early 2024, in recognition of this, NHSE North West, NHSE North East & Yorkshire, and NHS Greater Manchester (GM) teamed up with Sustainability West Midlands and Verture (formerly Sniffer) for a project that developed multiple resources, piloted two different training courses, consulted and engaged staff across multiple northern NHS organisations, and started building a business case for wider climate change adaptation in the NHS.
Resources produced during this project are open-source and available on weadapt, a website for collaboration and knowledge sharing around climate change adaptation. The outputs were:
- A draft climate adaptation framework for NHS organisations in England
- An Adaptation Plan Template for NHS Trusts
- Guidance on including adaptation into your Green Plan and other related reporting requirements
- Two training courses to build adaptation knowledge and understanding in the NHS (Becoming Climate Resilient and Empowering Leaders Training)
- The start of a Business Case for adaptation in the NHS
- A webinar disseminating the results of the project in July 2024
- An article providing an overview of the process, outputs, and reflections from the project
See this article on the project as a whole for more on the training courses and the business case.
Sustainability West Midlands were brought into this project due to our long-standing relationship with Verture and our expertise on stakeholder engagement and adaptation. In particular, SWM had recent experience and connections within the NHS from the Adapt to Survive Project in 2023, part of the wider Climate Change Adaptation Programme in partnership with the Environment Agency.
“Protecting the NHS from the impacts of climate change is a crucial focus in the UK today. The resources developed by SWM and Sniffer [now Verture] for this project are instrumental in guiding the NHS on its adaptation journey. Already, we are hearing discussions about integrating adaptation and resilience into the NHS, thanks to the senior leaders and other staff undertaking the ‘Becoming Climate Resilient’ training and awareness sessions.
We greatly welcome the collaborative approach taken by SWM and Sniffer. Their proactive stakeholder engagement at every stage, combined with their technical expertise, has resulted in outputs that are both relevant and accessible.”
Claire Igoe, NHS Greater Manchester ICB and Clare Macintosh, NHS England (North West)
“At Braford District Care NHS Foundation Trust we have a joint Climate Change Adaptation Plan with our neighbouring NHS Trusts but needed support to consider where to go next, how to achieve buy-in across the organisation and prioritise next steps. Getting involved in the Sniffer and SWM work made us realise we’re in the same boat as others and that because there are so many facets to Adaptation, we can learn from others who’ve made more progress elsewhere. The project enabled us to keep momentum with our Adaptation work and the Framework will be an invaluable addition to our Plan to help structure our activity over the coming years.”
Emma Clarke, Braford District Care NHS Foundation Trust, attendee on the Becoming Climate Resilient Training and member of the Task & Finish Group for developing the Climate Adaptation Framework.
