Centre for Sustainable Healthcare

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Centre for Sustainable Healthcare

What is the problem? Studies show that climate change is the biggest threat to health this century. What is the solution?

The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare is a global charity and world leader in sustainable healthcare research and expertise, committed to transforming the healthcare sector by integrating clinical care, wellbeing, and sustainability. Reports also show that the NHS is one of the biggest carbon polluters in the UK, being responsible for 21 million tonnes of CO2 each year - representing 25% of all pu

blic sector carbon emissions in England. It has an urgent imperative to act swiftly to reduce this, and to promote healthy, ‘green’ practices as opposed to being the country’s largest carbon polluter. The Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (CSH) is working with key partners to engage healthcare professionals, patients and the wider community in understanding the connections between health and environment and the importance of adopting sustainable practices at work and at home. As the NHS has contact with millions of people every day as patients and employs over 1.3 million people, it has the potential to reach huge swathes of the population with positive health and environmental messages. The ‘convenient truth’ is that what is good for the environment is also good for people’s health. Why is the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare best placed to carry this out? CSH was set up in 2008 out of concern for the future of people’s health. CSH is fortunate in having a wealth of experience both within its own small team, and through a wide network of partners, in the fields of health and the environment. During the past three years we have developed a range of projects to green the NHS. Our programmes concentrate on three areas: engagement; knowledge sharing; and transformation. CSH is now established as an independent organisation, having been ‘incubated’ by the charity Knowledge into Action for the first two years. Our close understanding of healthcare and of the health system in the UK, combined with our knowledge of sustainability and how these link enables us to work with partners in both these spheres to open doors and share ideas.

23/05/2026

When NHS England leaders warn that the health service is on “high alert” because of a conflict thousands of miles away, it’s hard to imagine the reason. But the recent Iran conflict – and the instability it triggered in the Strait of Hormuz – has had a direct, tangible effect on the NHS. Not because the UK imports medicines from Iran. Not because the NHS is involved in the conflict. But because modern healthcare depends on resource-intensive procurement models built on petrochemicals. Read more in the latest CSH guest blog by Maia Shouksmith, Foundation year 1 resident doctor and Alhaji Bangura, PhD scholar, University of Wolverhampton:
https://sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/petrochemicals-procurement-and-patient-safety/

14/05/2026

Know a green space healthcare project that deserves some recognition? Nominate them for an NHS Forest award! It only takes a few minutes to let someone know you recognise their hard work and commitment to nature and health. https://nhsforest.org/nhs-forest-award-nomination/

12/05/2026

How do you help communities who are struggling embrace sustainable preventative healthcare? You give them tools that are actually centred around them. This we're sharing how our work on Green Health Routes in the North East helped “quite literally put the forests on the local community map” and encouraged communities to experience the extensive mental (and physical) health benefits of spending time walking in nature. Working in partnership with Forestry England with funding from Sport England through the National Lottery, we connected with primary care providers and created a series of resources including guides, maps, virtual walks and events to remove some of the real barriers people experience when trying to use the green spaces on their doorsteps. Find out more in our blog:
https://nhsforest.org/blog/case-study/green-health-routes-partnership-model/

23/04/2026

Photography walks as part of the Green Health Routes North East project.

Book your free place !!Co-opSimon Thurlow PhotographyCentre for Sustainable HealthcareForestry England GuisboroughThe Digital Lighthouse

31/03/2026

Last call to help us plant 6,000 trees on healthcare sites. There is still time to donate and every donation will be doubled thanks to generous support by Aviva. Donate now to put nature at the heart of our healthcare: https://bit.ly/nhsforest

27/03/2026

Only 4 days left to help us plant 6,000 new trees on healthcare sites. Every donation through our crowdfunder is doubled thanks to match funding from Aviva.

Our NHS Forest programme plants trees to create calming, natural spaces that support patient recovery and give healthcare staff a place to breathe and recharge. Hear Green Space for Health Director, Sarah, share her personal story of why green spaces on healthcare sites matter.

If you can, please support our crowdfunder and help grow more green spaces across healthcare sites. The crowdfunder closes on 31 March so time is running out: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/the-nhs-forest-project-sponsored-tree-planting

20/03/2026

Help us plant 6,000 new trees on healthcare sites — and double your donation thanks to match funding from Aviva until the end of March.

Our NHS Forest programme plants trees to create calming, natural spaces that support patient recovery and give healthcare staff a place to breathe and recharge.

If you can, please support our crowdfunder and help grow more healing, green spaces across healthcare sites.
Donate here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/the-nhs-forest-project-sponsored-tree-planting

19/03/2026

Help improve the Nature for Health Resource Hub.
We’re looking for staff working in healthcare settings to help test and improve the Nature for Health Resource Hub. Join a short online focus group on 8 or 15 April and share your insights.

The hub brings together practical tools and resources to support healthcare organisations in developing green space projects that benefit patients, staff and nature. As the hub continues to evolve, we are keen to understand how it is being experienced in practice and how it can better support those working across healthcare estates, sustainability and clinical services. Your insights will directly inform the next stage of the hub’s development and help ensure it remains relevant, accessible and supportive of green space initiatives across healthcare settings.

Participants will also have the opportunity to:
✅ discover resources that may support their own green space work
✅ share experiences and ideas with peers working across the healthcare system
✅ contribute to shaping a growing central repository of resources supporting nature recovery in healthcare

If you are interested in taking part, please complete the short registration form by 31 March. We will begin confirming places shortly after. https://forms.office.com/e/ERaFsyeY9Z

10/03/2026

Do they serve oysters at the Freeman Hospital? No. But they have oystercatchers. Read more about the incredible bird life making itself at home at the Freeman Hospital in our latest blog from ranger Duika Burges Watson. https://nhsforest.org/blog/the-big-hospital-birdwatch/

07/03/2026

The CSH team are busy this month raising money for our crowdfunder by doing a sponsored Move through March. We're planning to walk the equivalent of the length of the UK (1407km) between us by the end of March to raise money for the NHS Forest and plant 6,000 more trees on UK healthcare sites. We've already covered over 350km! If you'd like to donate, or do your own fundraising challenge, visit our crowdfunder: https://bit.ly/nhsforest

Address

Suite 310, 266 Banbury Road, Summertown
Oxford
OX27DL

Website

http://sustainablehealthcare.org.uk/

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