An NHS trust says switching patients to lower\u2011carbon inhalers has cut emissions linked to asthma treatment.<\/p>\n
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) reported an 18% drop in emissions from inhalers prescribed across its four hospitals over the past year.<\/p>\n
The reduction is estimated at about 300 tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent after changes to prescribing, training and disposal practices.<\/p>\n
The trust said patients are only switched where it is “clinically safe and effective to do so”, emphasising care quality and patient choice.<\/p>\n
Pressurised metered dose inhalers, often called puffers, use propellants that are potent greenhouse gases.<\/p>\n
Dry powder inhalers, which do not rely on these propellants, typically have a much lower environmental impact.<\/p>\n
OUH said it has increased staff awareness to help clinicians discuss inhaler options with patients.<\/p>\n
It has also introduced guidance to improve how inhalers are used and disposed of safely.<\/p>\n
‘Achieve both’<\/p>\n
Project lead Sarah Poole said it “shows that we don’t have to choose between high\u2011quality patient care and protecting the environment – we can achieve both”.<\/p>\n
“For many patients, switching to a dry powder inhaler is clinically appropriate and significantly reduces carbon emissions.”<\/p>\n
She added that “making sure people feel confident using their inhaler properly” was “just as important”.<\/p>\n
“Good inhaler technique supports better health outcomes and helps avoid unnecessary additional treatment, which also reduces our environmental footprint.”<\/p>\n
More on this storyRelated internet links<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An NHS trust says switching patients to lower\u2011carbon inhalers has cut emissions linked to asthma treatment. Oxford University…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":704547,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[239141,49,48,256183,256182,84,118286,256181,256184,10569],"class_list":["post-704546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-asthma-treatment","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-carbon-dioxide-equivalent","tag-dry-powder-inhalers","tag-health","tag-inhalers","tag-metered-dose-inhalers","tag-ouh","tag-patients"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=704546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/704546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/704547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=704546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=704546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=704546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}