Don’t ignore environmental issues, private providers told
Healthcare businesses should start thinking about what they need to do to take forward the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) and net zero agenda, according to a leading lawyer in the sector.
Jamie Foster, a partner at international law firm Hill Dickinson, warned against thinking of these as long-term issues and urged attendees at the LaingBuisson Private Healthcare Summit 2022 to take practical steps towards meeting net zero targets.
He said decisions and action were needed as soon as possible, particularly if supplying to the NHS where tougher contract rules were due in 2024. Specific contractual obligations and reporting requirements were now becoming mandatory.
Jamie Foster
Mr Foster advised healthcare businesses to set out their ambitions for achieving net zero and ESG goals, and how they would achieve them.
He warned of a ‘huge green NHS programme gathering pace’ and highlighted examples and statistics including:
Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust becoming the country’s first to pilot a daily riverboat delivery service as part of plans to cut its carbon footprint;
New Cross Hospital, Wolverhampton, planning to run entirely on renewable energy after the green light was given to a solar farm;
Almost 30% of preventable deaths in England are due to non-communicable diseases specifically attributed to air pollution.