Adapt to Survive: Adapting the NHS to Climate Change – 12/9/23

Speakers

  • Joanna Smith, NHS Coventry and Warwickshire Integrated Care System (event Chair)
  • Daniel Saxton, Birmingham Women’s and Children’s NHS Foundation Trust
  • Alex Bogdanov, Essex County Council
  • Kim Croasdale, Greener NHS
  • Morgan Roberts, SWM

Event

The most recent UK Climate Change Risk Assessment, published in 2021, gave us a stark warning about the impact climate change is likely to have on our health, and the knock on potential consequences on our NHS. Risks include:

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The NHS is already facing massive pressure and an increase in heatwaves, flooding, water scarcity and pests and diseases as a result of climate change will only lead to an exacerbation of this. There is also an issue as to whether the NHS’s building stock will be able to cope with temperature increases and a more erratic flood risk, further enhancing the problem.

This event, which was attended by 78 individuals from a range of NHS Trusts, ICBs and ICSs from across the UK, looked at these risks, and their likely impacts, in more detail, discovered why Trusts urgently need to adapt to these risks, what this looks like in practice, and what we’re doing to help them.

Further information

Please get in touch with us to find out more about the West Midlands Climate Change Adaptation Programme, through which this event was supported.

Keep an eye out via our monthly newsletter to see when the accompanying resources that we are developing for the NHS so that Trusts can better adapt to climate change are published.

Downloads 

The slides are available here.

Notes summarising workshop discussions available here.

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