Consensus on Prioritisation of Actions for Reducing the Environmental Impact of a Large Tertiary Hospital: Application of the Nominal Group Technique

Davies, JF; McGain, F; Francis, JJ

Author(s): Davies, JF; McGain, F; Francis, JJ;
Details: Publication Year 2023,Volume 20,Issue #5,Page 3978
Journal Title: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Publication Type: Research article
Abstract: Hospitals are the largest greenhouse gas producers within the Australian healthcare sector due to the large amounts of energy, resource utilization, equipment and pharmaceuticals required to deliver care. In order to reduce healthcare emissions, healthcare services must take multiple actions to address the broad range of emissions produced when delivering patient care. The goal of this study was to seek consensus on the priority actions needed to reduce the environmental impact of a tertiary Australian hospital. A nominal group technique was utilized within a multidisciplinary, executive-led environmental sustainability committee to find consensus on the 62 proposed actions to reduce the environmental impact of a tertiary Australian hospital. Thirteen participants joined an online workshop during which an educational presentation was delivered, 62 potential actions were privately ranked according to two domains of 'amenability to change' and 'scale of climate impact' and a moderated group discussion ensued. The group achieved verbal consensus on 16 actions that span staff education, procurement, pharmaceuticals, waste, transport and advocacy on all-electric capital works upgrades. In addition, the individual ratings of potential actions according to each domain were ranked and shared with the group. Despite a large number of actions and varied perspectives within the group, the nominal group technique can be used to focus a hospital leadership group on priority actions to improve environmental sustainability.
Publisher: MDPI
Keywords: Humans; Tertiary Care Centers; Consensus; Australia; *Environment; Pharmaceutical Preparations
Department(s): Health Services Research
PubMed ID: 36901002
Publisher's Version: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20053978
Open Access at Publisher's Site: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20053978
Terms of Use/Rights Notice: Refer to copyright notice on published article.

Creation Date: 2023-04-06 06:53:42

Last Modified: 2023-04-17 11:52:08