Are you passionate about making your health service more environmentally sustainable? Do you have a project idea that could reduce waste, lower carbon emissions, or improve resource efficiency – while maintaining excellent patient care?
Registrations are now being accepted for the 2026–27 University of Melbourne Health Service Environmental Sustainability Competition. The competition is open to staff across eight participating health services:
- Royal Melbourne Hospital
- Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
- Royal Women’s Hospital
- Royal Children’s Hospital
- Austin Health
- St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne
- Western Health
- Mercy Health
Entries are being accepted until late March 2027.
What is the competition?
The Health Service Environmental Sustainability Competition began in 2022 at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, joining with Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and The Royal Women’s Hospital in its second year. In 2025 the competition expanded to eight health services, with 32 projects submitted.
The competition aims to foster engagement in sustainable healthcare quality improvement initiatives by providing support resources to catalyse impactful initiatives that improve quality of care, reduce emissions and waste, are financially viable, and continue to engage health organisations and staff.
ANMF members have participated in past competitions. CNS Celia Hall, an ANUM at Austin emergency department, was recognised last year for her project (with colleague Liz Williams) on reducing VBG and IV cannulation. Poilin Howland, a PACU nurse at Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), was also recognised for her initiative to rationalise the peri-operative use of disposable pulse oximetry.
SQuDs-ED (Sustainable and quality use of diagnostics in the ED)
‘The competition also provided us with an opportunity to link in with other health services, share learnings, and explore other innovative sustainability ideas‘
For Celia and Liz, their sustainable and quality use of diagnostics in the emergency department (SQuDs-ED) project was a Safer Care Victoria initiative that supports health services to identify and reduce unnecessary diagnostic testing and processes.
‘By promoting more appropriate use of diagnostics, the project aims to reduce healthcare costs and carbon emissions while maintaining high-quality patient care,’ they told ANMF. ‘Throughout 2025, our focus was to reduce venous blood gas testing, and IV cannulation, using a number of methods (policy development, interactive education sessions, “SQUD Games”, and promotional posters).
‘As of February 2026, the ED had achieved a 32 per cent reduction in VBGs, avoiding 11,040 tests (April 2025 to February 2026) and reducing emissions by an estimated 425,957 gCO₂e since April 2025. IV cannulation rates also decreased by around 6.6 per cent.’
Liz adds that she and Celia ‘were encouraged to submit the project by our manager, Stephanie Lomax, who believed its achievements and environmental benefits warranted wider acknowledgment. The competition also provided us with an opportunity to link in with other health services, share learnings, and explore other innovative sustainability ideas that may be relevant to Austin Health.’
Rationalising the use of disposable pulse oximetry probes
‘One of the most valuable lessons from this project was that sustainability and patient safety are not competing priorities.’
‘Healthcare generates substantial environmental waste through the routine use of single-use medical devices,’ notes Poilin. ‘Within the Perioperative Department at RCH, disposable pulse oximetry probes were identified as a significant contributor to waste and expenditure. This prompted the question: Could waste be reduced, costs lowered and sustainability improved without compromising patient safety?’
Poilin’s quality-improvement initiative aimed to simultaneously reduce unnecessary disposable pulse oximetry probe use and increase the adoption of reusable pulse oximetry probes while maintaining patient safety and monitoring standards. It achieved a 52 per cent reduction in disposable pulse oximetry probe use over the study period, with associated reductions in waste generation, leading to an estimated annual carbon saving of approximately 755 kg CO₂e as well as a 38 per cent reduction in procurement costs.
Critically, no adverse patient outcomes were identified, demonstrating that significant environmental and financial benefits were achieved without compromising patient safety.
Poilin tells ANMF that she was inspired to enter the competition because it recognises and supports healthcare initiatives that improve patient care while delivering environmental and financial benefits. ‘It provided an opportunity to share our project’s outcomes, encouraged collaboration across health services and helped demonstrate that small, evidence-based changes can have a significant and lasting impact on sustainable healthcare,’ she said.
‘One of the most valuable lessons from this project was that sustainability and patient safety are not competing priorities,’ she added. ‘They can successfully co-exist when changes are evidence-based, collaborative and carefully implemented. I also learned that small changes can have significant impact. The project demonstrates that practical, frontline-led initiatives can deliver meaningful environmental, financial and clinical benefits.
‘More importantly, it shows that sustainable healthcare is not about making dramatic changes overnight. It is about identifying opportunities for improvement, challenging established habits and empowering healthcare staff to make better choices everyday. Small steps, small changes, significant impact!’
