Innovating for Sustainability: How the NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Emergency and Acute Care can help innovators create a net-zero NHS (and why it matters)
Thomas Bradley, Sustainability Lead for the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) HealthTech Research Centre (HRC) in Emergency and Acute Care, explains why climate change is a growing health emergency and how the HRC can support innovators to design sustainable, low‑carbon technologies that improve care while reducing emissions.
The climate emergency is a health emergency
Climate change isn’t a distant issue anymore – it’s a real and urgent health concern, and its effects are already influencing how care is delivered across the NHS. From flooding and heatwaves disrupting NHS services, to rising cases of respiratory and cardiovascular disease due to air pollution, the effects of a warming climate present a growing challenge for the NHS.
In 2021, the United Nations and World Health Organisation declared a climate health emergency and climate change is now the single largest threat to human health. This comes after scientific data suggests that the impacts of climate change are expected to cause over 250,000 excess deaths a year between 2030 to 2050, costing global health systems an estimated $2-4bn per year.
Without intervention, climate change is likely to place more pressure on our already strained healthcare systems as demand increases. Not only is climate change fueling healthcare demand, but it is also impacting healthcare delivery.
The NHS is a major contributor to this, and accounts for around 4% of the UK’s total carbon footprint, with approximately 66% of that footprint coming from its supply chain -the products, devices, medicines, and equipment required to deliver care.
This means that innovation is not optional if we want a resilient healthcare system fit for the future, it is essential.
Why sustainability needs innovators
In 2020, the NHS became the first healthcare system in the world to commit to reaching net-zero emissions by 2040. Featuring heavily in the vision of a net-zero future was a demand for increased research and innovation, clinical care pathway decarbonisation and digital transformation.
The NHS 10 Year Health Plan for England: fit for the future sets out how we should move away from traditional care models, and towards a more person-centred, preventative, and innovative form of care delivery. The benefits of which could not only see an improvement in health outcomes and operational efficiency, but also an effective decarbonisation of care. The most sustainable healthcare is the care we don’t have to provide, thanks to prevention and early intervention.
For innovators, this shift creates a huge opportunity.
If you have a solution that diagnoses patients sooner, treats them more effectively, or prevents a condition from getting worse, then the chances are your innovation can decarbonise care: if your innovation saves money, it is likely to save carbon too.
New novel digital technologies promise to transform care, such as wearables and remote monitoring in virtual wards which offer great savings in cost and carbon – all whilst improving patient experience of healthcare.
Innovators shouldn’t think of sustainability as just a bonus – it can strengthen the value of their product. The NHS needs solutions that are cost‑effective but showing that your innovation cuts carbon as well as costs can really set you apart to procurement teams.
By embedding sustainability into research and innovation, we can help drive the transition to a truly net‑zero NHS.
Why innovators need sustainability
The NHS’ sustainability ambition is reshaping procurement. Suppliers are now required to have:
- A Carbon Reduction Plan
- Public reporting on emissions
- By 2028, a product‑level carbon footprint for anything sold to the NHS
In the MedTech sector, the UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) published its Design for Life roadmap which sets out plans for a circular, low‑waste, low‑carbon HealthTech economy by 2045.
This means:
- We will transition away from all avoidable single-use medical technology products and replace them with reusable, repairable, and recyclable ones
- Supply chains must become more local, resilient, and resource‑efficient
- Carbon impact will sit alongside cost and clinical value in procurement decisions
Innovators who plan early will have a competitive advantage.
How the HRC helps innovators create a net‑zero NHS
The NIHR HRC in Emergency and Acute Care is uniquely positioned to support innovators in developing sustainable HealthTech. We recognise the potential that an increasing shift towards sustainability in HealthTech design and supply offers to innovators with promising technologies.
We offer focused support, tailored advice, and collaborative opportunities to help you embed sustainability in your projects and contribute to NHS net-zero goals. Working together we will embed sustainability into our research, so that the NIHR HRC in Emergency and Acute Care can help explore innovative ways to decarbonise care pathways while simultaneously delivering benefits to patients and staff.
To do this, we will seek to expand our portfolio of sustainability related research by promoting sustainability related research funding, embedding sustainability into research objectives, quantifying the carbon impact of novel technologies, and capitalising on the decarbonising potential of digital technologies.
Our vision for a sustainable future, powered by sustainable healthcare research has been summarised in our Sustainability Strategy, which outlines our plans for sustainable healthcare innovation.
Get in touch
If you’re an innovator, industry partner, or researcher interested in helping us meet the challenge of designing a more sustainable future in healthcare, we invite you to contact us.
Together, we can drive meaningful change for our patients, the NHS, and our planet, through innovation.
Contact: HRC-Emergency@mft.nhs.uk