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10 ways to reduce air pollution in and around your surgery
Air pollution – indoors, as well as in our cities, towns and neighbourhoods – is a major public health concern which calls for wider recognition and action. According to Government figures, every year in the UK, up to 36,000 people die prematurely due to air pollution.
This is roughly the same number in 12 months as died of breast, prostate and bowel cancer combined over the past three years.
Clinicians have an important role to play, not only in helping protect patients from the harms of air pollution but also in raising awareness of the issue and calling for change. To mark Clean Air Day on 18th June, Greener Practice is sharing 10 ways you can make a difference to air quality in and around your surgery, and signposting resources to help you and your patients, including our Quality Improvement Projects (QIPs). Remember, for a limited period GP registrars can request free access to the QIPs and may want to choose one of the projects below.
1 – Encourage active travel for staff and patients. Walking, cycling or using public transport to and from the surgery has health benefits over travelling by car, as well as reducing emissions. Can you install a cycle rack on the premises? Become an RCGP Active Practice with the help of our QIP.
2 – Plant up the land on your premises, choosing differing-height trees, shrubs and climbers, and ground cover plants, that are good at filtering pollutants, for example conifers, cotoneaster and ivy. Advice on choosing suitable plants for this purpose is available from NHS Forest and the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS).
3 – Create a practice garden incorporating plants for better air quality with our QIP. Whether you only have room for pots and planters, or space to support a larger initiative, such as a patient gardening club or social and therapeutic horticulture, this QIP can help you.
Did you know? Our QIPs are step-by-step guides designed to help you make your practice more sustainable. There are more than 50 QIPs available to Greener Practice NetworkPLUS Members – join here!
4 – Support green spaces in your community. No outdoor space at all? Consider asking your PPG to hold a coffee morning or fund-raiser to support a local charity promoting green spaces, and plants trees in your area.
5 – Green your indoor space with pot plants in your waiting areas. On the back of the recent Critical Care Roof Garden at King’s College Hospital in London, bringing nature to patients has been deservedly huge in the media, and in the most positive way; research shows that indoor plants can boost our psychological and physical health.
Those involved at King’s have shown it’s possible to do this within existing governance structures around Infection Control. So, ensure you do a risk assessment, and we’d advise contacting your local IPC lead too. The RHS offers information to help you choose low allergy, non-poisonous plants. Consider high shelves or other out-of-reach locations.
6 – Create a No Idling Zone outside the surgery. Display a notice clearly on an outside wall asking drivers to switch off their engine while waiting at the roadside, making a delivery or waiting for a passenger. Explain why this is important. An idling engine produces 20 times more pollution than a car travelling at 32mph, and idling for more than 10 seconds uses more fuel and makes more emissions than restarting the engine. Reinforce the message on your waiting room information screens or your own computer’s screen saver; images and animated videos are available to download here.
Did you know? Turning your engine off when you stop can save you more than £116 a year.
7 – Carry out our Air Pollution QIP, which will enable you to train staff to identify patients at risk, help them reduce their own exposure to air pollution and take steps to improve their health.
8 – Talk about indoor pollution with patients. Remind all staff doing annual COPD and asthma reviews to ask about exposure to indoor and outdoor pollution, for example on the school run, when cooking, air fresheners, log burners and open fires. See our asthma toolkit for QIPs, training videos and resources to improve asthma care.
9 – Display information about the importance of breathing clean air. Animations and other digital resources for display on your waiting room screens as above. Other resources online include the short video ‘The Air We Breathe’ from NHS West & North London, which is available in a number of languages. Mums For Lungs, one of the leading grassroots organisation in the UK campaigning for cleaner health to protect our children’s health, also offer a range of free downloads to help get the message out.
Did you know? Wood burners are now the most important cause of PM2.5 pollution, having overtaken vehicle emissions. You can find out how many people are using woodburners in your area here.
10 – Call on your local councillor to champion clean air in your local community to mark Clean Air Day. Find out how to go about this here.