Transcript of: Susan Pearce - Sustainable Futures Innovation Fund
Hello, I'm Susan Pearce, Secretary for NSW Health and I'm here today to talk about our new Sustainable Futures Innovation Fund.
The fund is an opportunity for all NSW Health staff to receive innovation funding to “kick start” high impact innovation projects that will improve patient care and reduce our environmental footprint. There are over , staff across the NSW health system, each with an important role to play in our climate risk response and in driving system wide innovation and collaboration to achieve the NSW Government Net Zero targets. So many of our staff are already acting to improve patient care and reduce emissions.
Some of these efforts include, using less polluting anaesthetic gases, reducing single use plastics, repairing and reusing mobility aids, using telehealth to improve accessibility for patients and to reduce travel emissions, focusing on value based health care to improve patient safety and reduce environmental impacts installing solar panels and LED lights and shifting to electric vehicles to improve air quality and reduce emissions.
Also, working to reduce food waste and chemicals in cleaning. Many of these initiatives are now business as usual. However, we recognise that we need to do more. The Sustainable Futures Innovation Fund will provide funding ranging from $, up to $, for initiatives or projects led by NSW Health staff, that trial new ways of doing things that improve health outcomes and reduce emissions. With NSW Government goals to halve emissions by , this is your opportunity to contribute to a high quality, low carbon and climate resilient NSW health system.
On behalf of NSW Health, I'd like to encourage everyone to get involved and start your application today. Together, we can help ensure a healthy, sustainable future for our patients, our children and communities.
