The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care has drafted a framework of actions that health services can use to ensure their services are improving the safety and quality of care while addressing the health impacts of climate change and healthcare’s contribution to climate change. The framework of actions is called the Environmental Sustainability and Climate Resilience Healthcare Module.
The module – initially called the Climate Risk Module – has been in development since 2021. An advisory group to guide development was initially formed with multidisciplinary health professionals and experts in environmental sustainability and climate resilience in healthcare.
ANMF members were invited to give their feedback.
This was followed by public consultation in 2022, during which 96 per cent of respondents agreed that the module was required.
In 2023, the Commission made refinements from consultation, which included aligning the Module with Australia’s National Health and Climate Strategy. The advisory group was also expanded to allow broader input from states and territories.
They also renamed the Module to recognise that actions on both adaptation (climate resilience) and mitigation (environmental sustainability) are required in addressing the health impacts of, and healthcare’s contributions to, climate change.
The module is now in the piloting phase, which will continue until September this year. The pilot aims to gather learnings from those that have already initiated work in health services to improve their environmental sustainability and climate resilience.
The pilot outcomes will help to improve the module and will be used to understand content that can be added to the next edition of the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards. It also supports the Australian Government’s National Health and Climate Strategy.
The pilot is open to all health services, and will support those wanting to begin planning for environmental sustainability and climate resilience as well as those who have not yet started planning.
The benefits of participating in the pilot include:
- Promoting the exemplar efforts of your health service that demonstrate impactful change in addressing climate risks
- Networking with other pilot sites working on this issue
- Learning from leading experts involved in environmental sustainability in health
- Access to a catalogue of guidance material to support health services implement the module
- Identifying areas for refinement of the module and opportunities for future resources.
Interested in getting your organisation on board to participate? Contact the Commission.
