Abstract
BackgroundThe medical field causes significant environmental impact. Reduction of the primary care practice carbon footprint could contribute to decreasing global carbon emissions. This study aims to quantify the average carbon footprint of a primary care consultation, describe differences between primary care practices (best, worst and average performing) in western Switzerland and identify opportunities for mitigation.MethodsWe conducted a retrospective carbon footprint analysis of ten private practices over the year 2018. We used life-cycle analysis to estimate carbon emissions of each sector, from manufacture to disposal, expressing results as CO2 equivalents per average consultation and practice. We then modelled an average and theoretical best- case and worst-case practices. Collected data included invoices, medical and furniture inventories, heating and power supply, staff and patient transport, laboratory analyses (in/out-house) waste quantities and management costs.ResultsAn average medical consultation generated 4.8 kg of CO2eq and overall, an average practice produced 30 tons of CO2eq per year, with 45.7% for staff and patient transport and 29.8% for heating. Medical consumables produced 5.5% of CO2eq emissions, while in-house laboratory and X-rays contributed less than 1% each. Emergency analyses requiring courier transport caused 5.8% of all emissions. Support activities generated 82.6% of the total CO2eq. Simulation of best- and worst-case scenarios resulted in a ten-fold variation in CO2eq emissions.ConclusionOptimizing structural and organisational aspects of practice work could have a major impact on the carbon footprint of primary care practices without large-scale changes in medical activities.
Highlights
Introduction & background The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), warned that global warming will significantly affect hundreds of millions of people [1], and found that mitigation options are available in every major sector and on every scale, from local to international
This study aims to quantify the average carbon footprint of a primary care consultation, describe differences between primary care practices in western Switzerland and identify opportunities for mitigation
The study consisted of a carbon footprint analysis of ten private primary care practices in western Switzerland
Summary
Introduction & background The IntergovernmentalPanel on Climate Change (IPCC), warned that global warming will significantly affect hundreds of millions of people [1], and found that mitigation options are available in every major sector and on every scale, from local to international. The medical scientific community has increasingly urged for emergency action on climate change [2, 3]. In this context, The. Lancet Countdown on health and climate change started to review annually forty-one indicators that explore the relation between health and climate change and to assess the progress made by governments towards their engagement to the 2015 Paris agreement [4,5,6]. Among the forty-one indicators, one focused on the mitigation of health care sector emissions. Medical devices and procedures or national health care systems as a whole have had their carbon footprints examined. This study aims to quantify the average carbon footprint of a primary care consultation, describe differences between primary care practices (best, worst and average performing) in western Switzerland and identify opportunities for mitigation
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