To coincide with Plastic Free July, the BMA is today launching a survey to learn about the NHS’s contribution to reducing plastics through initiatives such as increasing reusable equipment.

The BMA also wants to gauge members’ views on the NHS’s wider sustainability goals and their ability to contribute towards them.

The NHS in England, for example, has net-zero targets for emissions it directly controls by 2040, as well as for emissions it can influence by 2045. Similar targets have been set in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The BMA is keen to hear about sustainability initiatives in the workplace and how members are involved with them. The survey also asks how far members feel able to influence sustainability practices and where the barriers to engagement lie. Other questions relate to NHS net-zero targets.

BMA board of science chair David Strain said: ‘Climate change is a health emergency. As doctors, we feel we have a responsibility to respond to the climate crisis and want to ensure our working practices and workplaces are environmentally sustainable. The BMA is keen to understand how much agency members feel they have in contributing towards this.’

The survey, which will run for at least a month, is open to members working for the NHS in England, Scotland and Wales, and Health and Social Care in Northern Ireland.

This work follows on from previous research by the BMA looking at trusts’ progress towards net zero. It found, after 2019 – and especially during the COVID pandemic – progress had stalled.

It also found most NHS organisations had not received any funding support for implementing sustainability practices – and concluded that many parts of the NHS needed government support to help them get back on track.

Take part in the new BMA sustainability survey here