Environmental impact of palliative and end-of-life care interventions in the intensive care unit

Abstract

Climate change will have a major impact on health care provision in the United Kingdom (UK). Higher temperatures and extreme weather events are expected to increase heat-related deaths by 5000 per year and lead to new and increased vector-borne infectious diseases.1 Air pollution is already a major harm to public health estimated to cause more than 20 000 respiratory and cardiovascular admissions to hospital each year.2 The National Health Service (NHS) currently accounts for around 4% of the UK's total carbon footprint and aims to reduce this to net zero across the full scope of its emissions by 2045.3 Of this total, around 20% is attributable to medicines and chemicals, 10% to medical equipment and 10% to building energy usage. As an institution that both carries and contributes to much of the burden of environmental degradation, improving the sustainability of NHS services across all settings is an urgent task.