Western Health acknowledges that its operations contribute towards climate change and has other impacts on our environment. We are committed to taking actions which ensure activities undertaken by the healthcare service are consistent with best environmental practice and that Western Health is seen as a leading organisation working towards environmental sustainability.
Western Health’s Environmental Management Roadmap 2015 – 2020 (‘the Roadmap’) set the strategic direction for a 5 year period, in parallel to its Strategic Plan 2015 - 2020. The Roadmap is a key enabler to Objective 1 of Strategic Aim 4, to optimise constrained resources. Its objective is for Western Health to operate sustainably in accordance with our social, environmental and economic responsibilities. Purposeful actions are implemented to achieve key aims of the Roadmap, thereby reducing the environmental impacts throughout Western Health operations.
The key areas of sustainability at Western Health are :
Winner – 2017 Premier’s Sustainability Award
Western Health was awarded 2017 Premier’s Sustainability Award, Health Category for its Single Use Metal Instruments Recycling Program.
Research undertaken by Western Health in 2015 showed that the environmental impact of healthcare is felt as a sustainability tension by many clinicians, particularly around issues of waste, with single-Use metal instruments (SUMIs) the most often cited example.
In 2016 Western Health successfully rolled the Single Use Metal Instruments Recycling Program across all sites. The program’s campaign approach was simple and accessible, and straightforward for staff to engage with.
Approximately 500kgs of steel was recycled that year, representing approximately 80 per cent of all SUMIs purchased. And, the program’s accessible focus resulted in a positive engagement of staff in the sustainability program, leading to improved staff perceptions around their ability to influence waste and do the right thing at work.
You can find out more about Western Health’s environmental performance via its Sustainability Reports.