Net zero in the NHS

Most voters would imagine that the NHS had enough to be worrying about. With fourweek waits for GP appointments at record highs, 6.3 million people waiting for 7.6 million treatments, and a staggering decline in productivity, there is plenty for the health service to improve upon.

Why, then, is it directing scarce resources towards the pursuit of net zero? From next month, electric ambulances will be trialled across parts of England. Staff members have already raised concerns that the limited range of the vehicles, and their long recharge times, could lead to issues with reliably reaching patients, particularly in rural areas of the country.

Other parts of the health service are also being shaken up. From next month, every supplier will be asked to draw up a Carbon Reduction Plan, while all medicines and products are required to undergo a 135 question “evergreen assessment” taking into account emissions targets and social values.

Many of the problems inherent in the NHS are visible in this bizarre tale: the prioritisation of a goal that is at best orthogonal to treating patients; establishing additional layers of bureaucracy to pursue it; and creating a large centralised body costing an estimated £3million in salaries per year to oversee it.

The Chancellor has only just announced a £3billion investment in improving NHS productivity, which has yet to return to prepandemic levels. It is dispiriting that the organisation is, at the same time, rolling out new schemes that run the risk of further worsening its performance. It is surely time to put patient outcomes first.