Background The World Health Organization (WHO. COP26 special report on climate change and health: the health argument for climate action. [internet] 2021) and National Health Service (NHS England. Delivering a ‘Net Zero’ National Health Service. 2022) recognise the adverse impact climate change is having on public health. While hospices will ultimately feel the effects of these health impacts, they will also inevitably be part of the Government and NHS net zero commitments to tackle climate change. This should drive hospices into taking serious action in developing their own environmental targets and becoming credible environmentally responsible organisations.

Aims To provide and share an overview of current environmental facilities initiatives; to provide scrutiny to identify areas where environmental performance can be improved; to increase awareness of the important role and impact hospice Facilities teams can have in tackling climate change.

Method Carbon emissions (SECR - streamlined energy and carbon reporting) and energy savings analysis and reporting have been carried out for the last three years, with the current year’s report imminent. Participation in relevant initiatives, such as the Palliative Care Sustainability Network work on developing a greener palliative care framework, will also help focus priorities and support progress.

Results Reporting data has identified areas of energy usage and potential savings, and resultant commitments to date have been largely focused on facilities-related improvements such as solar panels, electric vehicle charging points, boiler/distribution system efficiencies, switching to LED lighting and an electric hospice van. Work on waste reduction has achieved almost 100% food and gardening waste recycling, and a reduction in plastic use within retail.

Discussion We recognise that we are only starting our environmental journey and that considerably more work is needed to collect relevant data, identify our actual ‘net zero’ journey, and implement further, meaningful environmentally sustainable initiatives. Such future initiatives provisionally include looking at more effective energy and water management, expanding our biodiversity, and further work with our retail colleagues to identify environmental improvements.