00:01This is Anna. Do you mind popping in a cannula?
00:04A blood test looks a little different at this New South Wales emergency department.
00:09Scrapping plastic kidney dishes and cutting down on the number of tests
00:13are just some of the ways Wyong's ED is moving towards net zero.
00:18We are identifying low value tests that maybe aren't contributing very much to patient care,
00:23trying to identify them and reduce them as much as possible.
00:26They also replaced the traditional pain reliever,
00:29laughing gas.
00:30We can really reduce the emissions related to nitrous oxide,
00:34which is about 300 times worse than carbon dioxide as far as global warming potential goes.
00:39Doctors say patient outcomes are better too.
00:42Every year we produce an average 52,000 tonnes of waste in New South Wales hospitals.
00:49That's the same weight as the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
00:53Healthcare contributes up to 7% of Australia's carbon output.
00:57That inspired Amy Bonotis to switch roles at Armidale Hospital.
01:02If we scale this out across all the departments in the hospital, that's going to add up.
01:07OK, let's go.
01:09A lack of funding in the recent budget threatens the road to net zero by 2040.
01:15Without that national joined up effort and the associated research investment,
01:19we're just not going to get far enough in the time that we have.
01:25The ABC understands there'll be further government led action on building a more sustainable and resilient health system.
01:32That's a good question.
Comments