The Morlais Greener Practice Initiative
The Morlais Greener Practice Initiative
Morlais Health recognises the Climate Emergency and wishes to take steps to reduce our environmental impact as an organisation.
We aim to achieve this through:
- Greener Prescribing
- Greener Premises
- Greener Procurement
- Greener Policies and Procedures
Greener Prescribing
Our area of focus will be the greenhouse gases emitted by inhaled therapies for Asthma and COPD.
Metered Dose Inhalers (MDIs) are now CFC-free but do contain Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) which do not affect the ozone layer but are powerful greenhouse gases. Alternative inhalers, called Dry Powder Inhalers (DPIs) have a significantly smaller environmental impact. DPIs have an impact of approximately 20g CO2 equivalent compared to 300-500g CO2 equivalent of MDIs.
An example of an MDI is Ventolin – the most commonly prescribed inhaler in the UK. For a patient using one Ventolin inhaler per month, this is the equivalent of driving around 175 miles every year – a journey from Merthyr Tydfil to London!
Therefore we will aim to reduce the number of MDIs we prescribe, where alternatives are appropriate. This might be choosing to prescribe Dry Powder Inhalers or other alternatives that use different propellants (e.g. choosing to prescribe Salamol rather than Ventolin).
We will not enforce changes upon patients as we recognise that patient preference, as well as appropriateness of device, is an important consideration when prescribing. However, we will inform our patients that they do have some choice and will include information of environmental impact at the point of prescribing.
In addition, we aim to reduce the impact of wasted prescriptions. We know that most medications are manufactured in Asia and therefore the transport of medicines has a huge environmental impact. We also know that not all medication is taken, for example through patient choice, over-ordering etc. We aim to reduce this where possible through working together with our community pharmacies to undertake regular medication usage reviews and through exploring alternatives to prescriptions where appropriate (for example, a referral for talking therapy, or social prescribing through our GP Support Officers).
Greener Procurement
The Partners have agreed to exploring alternative energy generation strategies when the time comes to replace our boilers/central heating system. We will also consider the option of electric car charging points if this is affordable.
We have already begun the process of replacing our traditional lightbulbs with LED lighting and motion activated sensors in lesser-used areas of the practice. We are also exploring increasing our recycling at the practice.
Greener Policies and Procedures
We have agreed to look at the ways we work to see where else we can impact on our carbon footprint. Examples include:
- Fewer face-to-face meeting, instead choosing to attend virtually;
- Reducing our use of paper at the practice by increasing our use of text and email correspondence with patients, which reduces the number of letters we send;
- Increased use of social prescribing including collaboration at a Cluster level with organisations such as Coed Lleol / Actif Woods.
We acknowledge there is much work to do, and are keen to open up discussions with our patient regarding environmental issues. If you wish to discuss please get in touch on Social Media with your ideas!
