UHW earns recognition for 'Green' Emergency Department
Ben O’ Sullivan (Chief Executive Officer, UHW); Derek Kenneally (Clinical Nurse Manager 2, ED/UHW); Consultant in Emergency Medicine Gerard Markey; Consultant in Emergency Medicine Susan Uí Bhroin and Zoey Cooney (Clinical Nurse Manager 3, ED/UHW).
University Hospital Waterford's (UHW) Emergency Department has been formally recognised for it's environmental practices.
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) announced that UHW had reached the 'silver' standard for their 'Green ED' programme.
'Green ED' is a RCEM-backed initiative to measure and reduce the environmental impact of hospital Emergency Departments, thus driving environmentally sustainable practices.
Chief Executive Officer for UHW Ben O’ Sullivan said he was 'delighted' that the contribution of UHW has been picked out and paid tribute to the “GreenED” program group onsite, which was led out by Consultant in Emergency Medicine Orla Kelly and Dr. Bianca van der Linde of the Emergency Medicine team.
UHW is one of the Irish medical sites are in collaboration with HSE’s Climate Action and Sustainability Office and the National Clinical Programme for Emergency Medicine (NCPEM) in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI), supported by SPARK Innovation Funding.
Praising UHW, Dr. Ian Higginson (President of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine) said:
“This summer, in some parts of the UK and Ireland we have seen first-hand the impact that man-made climate change can have. As Emergency Medicine clinicians, we see how this effects our patients and so it fills me with hope that colleagues across the world are taking matters into their own hands. Tackling climate change is more important now than ever. The Royal College of Emergency Medicine are proud to support clinicians to do their part and this silver accreditation reflects the hard work and innovation of the team in UHW, who have worked to reduce emissions and waste.”
Roisín Breen, Programme Manager for HSE’s Climate and Sustainability Programme, added: "We are delighted to see continued progress across Irish Emergency Departments (EDs) and Injury Units (IUs) through the RCEM ‘GreenED’ accreditation programme.
"Including UHW, a total of five EDs and IUs nationally have now been recognised for their commitment to sustainable healthcare. A further four sites have just commenced their accreditation journey and we look forward to more coming on board.”
