Q Exchange
The Care Home Carbon Insight Tool – Learning from primary care
- Idea
- 2024
Meet the team
Also:
- Lorna Turner Sustainability Lead Devonhomecare Collaborative
- Natalie Morris Partnership Manager Autumna
- Matt Sawyer SEE Sustainability
What is the challenge your project is going to address and how does it connect to the theme of 'How can we improve across system boundaries?
Our innovative project will provide a tool for partners in care homes to measure local carbon footprints that is intuitive in its use, easy to replicate and free at the point of use. This approach is an adaptation of the tool developed to measure the carbon footprint of primary care premises and gives managers of care homes opportunity to develop the measurement of baseline critical to any improvement project. Subject to the CQC well-led sustainability regime, care homes are now required to provide evidence on progress on sustainable activities. Many private companies willing to provide initial analysis at cost charge again to share the important ‘workings’ key to replication. This direct adaptation of a tool from primary care, for care homes with support from care home collaboratives and the private sector deomonstates improvement across system boundaries which direct resources back to care whilst also caring for the planet.
What does your project aim to achieve?
Our project is a unique venture between and across sectors and system boundaries for a common aim, to share knowledge, expertise and tools that will support care that is sustainable for the future. Using baseline data can help boost the culture for learning and improvement, reduce waste and improve management processes. Whilst there is significant support available to NHS organisations on their ‘greener NHS’ journey, staff in this care sector are equally committed to planetary health, and would benefit from the expertise already developed within the primary care sector, to be available at the point of use. Our key aim is to make available a free tool to measure the carbon footprint available to care home managers. This will build on very detailed data gathered from care homes in one local collaborative across Devon.
How will the project be delivered?
The project will be delivered through the collaboration and adaptation of an existing carbon footprinting tool using a quality improvement approach to deliver a new tool for carbon footprint measurement in a care home. As part of the team, we have recruited the primary care tool developer, the Devon County sustainability lead for care homes, researcher and Autumna lead supporting greening this sector. Having undertaken a first test we are eager to enter the next phase developing a tool from a base of 7-10 care homes across Devon. Initial discussions gave a positive indication of readiness and potential for engagement. Funding develops a tool and platform to allow care home managers to undertake baseline assessments and initiate improvement actions. There is significant excitement about this possibility, which improves carbon literacy across the sector and supports engagement and retention of staff who feel encouraged through contributing positively to the planetary crisis.
How is your project going to share learning?
We believe a care home carbon footprinting tool, if free at the point of use, is an important element in the active engagement of this sector towards sustainability, whilst also helping to reducing costs. There are already examples of reduction in food waste, laundry costs and heating costs which can be shared more widely across the country, and the same issues apply in the sector to other institutional care such as children’s homes. The benefit of working together as a whole wide system, that impacts on travel, housing, energy across primary, secondary and care systems, where is a reduction of costs that can be reinvested in staffing, can only benefit the clients and patients that are waiting for placements. Additional learning for Q members will be from the detailed knowledge and experience that this important part of the care sector can bring to the health sector.
How you can contribute
- We would love to hear if the Q community thinks that this is a good idea!
- We would welcome feedback from users of the GP carbon footprinting tool
- We would like help and advice from the Q community who may already be involved with greening care homes or care services
- Can anyone in the Q community tell us where we may seek alternative funding if we are not successful here
Plan timeline
| 27 Feb 2024 | Complete and post idea to the Q website |
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Comments
Clare Morrison 20 Mar 2024
This is a great project - environmental sustainability is something we should all be thinking about and I really like how your plan is to make the tool widely available. So I am happy to support this project.
Have you considered including or linking in with work on sustainable medicines use, given the high use of medicines in care homes? Medicines account for 25% of the NHS carbon footprint. Here's a link to work I was involved in during my previous job which might provide some ideas, happy to discuss further: https://www.rpharms.com/scotland/scottish-policies-and-consultations/sustainable-prescribing
Frances Mortimer 12 Mar 2024
Hi Elaine,
I really like your idea. I think there will be great potential for care homes to reduce their carbon footprint. Will your tool measure non-clinical carbon footprint only? My project idea is focused on reducing the environmental and social impacts of avoidable medicines waste in care homes. It would be great to collaborate and share learning on engaging with care home staff.
Nuala
Elaine Mead 13 Mar 2024
Hi there, and thanks for the positive feedback on this idea. We hope that the tool will include all of the clinical elements, just as it currently does with the GP practice tool but we would welcome your expertise and enthusiasm. Your project seem to be entirely in line with our thinking so there must be an opportunity for some fruitful collaboration to support our care home colleagues as you have the expert knowledge and we have the potential test sites. Shall we speak sometime soon?
Eileen Dudley 5 Mar 2024
Really like this idea and an important and relevant topic well thought through and great to hear that you have begun with a small scale test of change to gauge interest
Elaine Mead 5 Mar 2024
Thanks Eileen. It is good to know that there is interest in the idea. The small test of change created a lot of interest and we have an number of care homes in Devon that would be keen to participate which is encouraging. There is lots that we could do to engage this sector, and to learn from them across the whole health and care system. Thank you for your support.
Michelle Beattie 4 Mar 2024
Super idea. Sustainability should be at the heart of all improvement ideas and you've made me think about that perspective for mine. Developing a tool or adapting an existing tool for care homes would be ideal. I know you have lots of expertise in QI but I also wondered if you could integrate an element of realist research? I'm thinking as well as implementing in a small number of care homes could you also consider some realist work to create some generalisable theories for others? Or even other research methods (I just think realist aligns so well to system thinking etc).
Elaine Mead 5 Mar 2024
Hi Michelle. Thank you so much for your positive comments. I am currently using a realist approach in my research into QI and sustainability, so I have no idea why I didn't consider applying it to this project! Of course it makes absolute sense, and I will get on with developing some Context Mechanism and Outcomes to support theories that might underpin the spread to other sectors. This helpful comment through an academic lens just shows what power the Q community can bring to an idea. You have probably given me another 3 months work, but thank you anyway Michelle!
Katie Angus 27 Feb 2024
This sounds brilliant, I would love to do what I can to support this idea!
Elaine Mead 27 Feb 2024
Thanks Katie. Thats very encouraging. It would be great to be able to use something we already have for free in healthcare to help the care sector
Comments are now closed for this post.