The ESAIC Sustainability Toolkit

A structured approach to more sustainable practices

Climate change is an existential threat to healthcare and life itself on the planet. It is vital that everyone takes action to mitigate this process. The ESAIC has been at the forefront of addressing these environmental challenges signing the Glasgow Declaration in 2023¹ and publishing the 4-scope guidance on sustainability in 2024.²

In our continuing efforts to improve sustainable practice in medicine, the ESAIC is proud to unveil its Sustainability Toolkit³ this month. The Sustainability Toolkit will be an invaluable aid in helping practitioners, departments and hospitals improve sustainable practice in surgery and anaesthesia. Drawing on expertise from across Europe and using lessons learned from successful quality improvement projects, the Sustainability Toolkit provides ideas and structures to ensure sustainable change is not only possible but maintained.

The toolkit emphasizes a team approach to sustainability and quality improvement recognising that skills and expertise exist beyond anaesthesiology departments, and a coordinated approach is the key to solving problems and making sure that any positive change introduced sticks.

The toolkit includes multiple ideas for sustainability QI projects as well as a worked example of how Desflurane was removed from clinical practice in a clinical unit. It also contains suggestions for improved personal practice to allow anaesthesiologists to lead by example, as well as potential projects that can include surgeons and other specialities.

At its core, the toolkit focuses on the 5Rs of sustainability: Reject, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Repair, connecting these to the 4-scope guidance in the areas of volatile and drug use, energy optimisation, waste management, and sustainable living. The toolkit will be a must for all practitioners hoping to improve sustainability in their hospitals and serve as a rallying point for the development of local, regional and international networks.

1. https://esaic.org/glasgow-declaration-3-year-roadmap/ (last accessed 22/1/25)
2. Gonzalez-Pizarro P, Brazzi L, Koch S, Trinks A, Muret J, Sperna Weiland N, Jovanovic G, Cortegiani A, Fernandes TD, Kranke P, Malisiova A, McConnell P, Misquita L, Romero CS, Bilotta F, De Robertis E, Buhre W; Sustainability National Representatives. European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care consensus document on sustainability: 4 scopes to achieve a more sustainable practice. Eur J Anaesthesiol. 2024 Apr 1;41(4):260-277. doi: 10.1097/EJA.0000000000001942. Epub 2024 Jan 18. PMID: 38235604.
3. ESAIC Sustainability Toolkit

Author

•  Dr. Paul McConnell (MBChB LLM FRCA FFICM EDIC)