NJR statement on our commitment to sustainable working

We strive to be ethical and environmentally conscious in all our choices:

• We share our information online and seldom print any NJR publications.
• We deliver on work with a ‘paperless’ approach and think first of the re-uses of any materials before we print.
• We conduct most of our internal and external meetings online, in order to reduce our travel expenses and carbon footprint.
• We try to ensure suppliers that we engage with for NJR services are ethical and environmentally conscious in their own processes and practices.
• We are aware that the hospital procedures associated with joint replacement produce excess waste materials and we fully support all initiatives to review and reduce this.

Greener Pathways – a sustainability collaboration

We are pleased to advise that the National Joint Registry has been a key contributor to the development of GIRFT’s new ‘Greener Pathways’ guide to decarbonising the hip replacement pathway, which has been written to support the NHS to reduce environmental impact while improving patient care. You can find out more about this initiative here.

How can we all make surgical practices more sustainable?

The NHS accounts for 4% of the UK’s total carbon footprint, including travel, infrastructure and waste management. Operating theatres are responsible for a major part of this, producing 50–70% of total hospital waste.

The Royal College of Surgeons has recently highlighted that there are strategies which will help to reduce the carbon footprint of operating theatres around the globe.

Find out what changes you can make by visiting their webpage: https://www.rcseng.ac.uk/about-the-rcs/about-our-mission/sustainability-in-surgery

…or by viewing their webinar: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8MGamvko8E0

NJR/BOA Sustainability Fellows

In collaboration with the British Orthopaedic Association we are mentoring two research fellows who have been focussing on the challenges of climate change and on what can be done in the orthopaedic sector to recognise the impact surgery has had on the accumulation of waste.

Their work summary papers, presented here and in the NJR Annual Report 2023, offer some suggestions for action towards greater sustainability.

Our sustainability fellows:

The environmental impact of total hip and knee

Hammad Parwaiz and Rohan Prakash, NJR sustainability fellows, published a paper on the environmental impact of total hip and knees.

This paper is also available in our Annual Report.

Sustainability considerations for the orthopaedic sector

Rohan Prakash, NJR Sustainability Fellow, also presented his research work on sustainability at the NJR Session at BOA Congress 2023.

Launch of Green Surgery Report at the Future of Surgery conference

Report by the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change, Brighton and Sussex Medical School and the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare – work funded by the Health Foundation

At the Future of Surgery conference on 14 November 2023 a new landmark report, believed to be the world’s first on how to reduce the environmental impact of surgical care while maintaining high-quality patient care, was launched that sets the groundwork for reducing the carbon footprint of surgical care.

Reducing and reusing products used in surgery, shutdown checklists for operating rooms to save energy when they are not in use, switching to less harmful anaesthetics, as well as surgeons and patients working together to optimise their treatment are all highlighted as ways in which carbon emissions could be reduced.

You can download the full report and see key recommendations on a dedicated website here and a short introductory video can be viewed here.