Mercy Health is leading the way in sustainable healthcare, with a recent workshop aimed at integrating environmental sustainability into healthcare quality improvement. Four team members from the sustainability, quality improvement, infection prevention and control, and pharmacy teams participated in the University of Melbourne’s Sustainability in Quality Improvement (SusQI) Workshop, made possible with support from the Mercy Health Foundation.
The SusQI program provided these team members with practical tools and strategies to drive environmental change within their services, aligning with Mercy Health’s goal of embedding sustainability into the heart of healthcare delivery. According to a Mercy Health spokesperson, the organization uses a team-based approach to make sustainability an integral part of everyday healthcare.
As a result of the workshop, Mercy Health is now working to incorporate SusQI principles into its existing improvement framework. This includes encouraging staff to consider and measure the social, financial, and environmental impacts of their initiatives.
One of the immediate results of this partnership is a reduction in unnecessary glove use. Lisa King, Manager of Infection Prevention and Control, is leading efforts to promote the appropriate use of gloves, improving hand hygiene while also reducing environmental impact. This has led to a significant decrease in the use of non-sterile gloves, an essential step in reducing plastic waste and unnecessary costs.
Another area of focus is cutting waste from expired medical consumables. Consumables such as dressings and syringes often expire before use, resulting in avoidable waste. Sustainability Lead Joanna Milne is working to improve systems and practices to prevent this issue and ensure resources are used efficiently and responsibly.
The Mercy Health team is also looking at ways to rethink inhaler use, specifically metered dose inhalers (MDIs). These devices have a significant carbon footprint and studies show that up to 92% of doses go unused in hospital settings. Christina Hanciu from the Werribee Mercy Pharmacy team is exploring ways to reduce waste by addressing unnecessary prescribing of MDIs. This is a global concern, as a recent Canadian study revealed that unused MDIs emit carbon emissions equivalent to driving around the planet 31 times in one year. Alternatives, such as Dry Powder Inhalers (DPIs), have a significantly lower carbon footprint and are being considered as part of Mercy Health’s sustainability efforts.