Operation Sustainable Surgery: Saving Lives Must Not Be to the Detriment of the Planet

The sustainability of surgical procedures is perhaps not something the wider population often questions. After all, we're the trusted professionals who carry their lives in our hands. In times of bad health, it's unlikely that thoughts will turn to the carbon footprint of the operation that the patient or a loved one is about to undergo. But upon deeper reflection, we within the sector have woken up to the fact that sustainability in surgery requires urgent attention.

The healthcare sector is significantly resource-intensive, with operating rooms being one of the biggest perpetrators. Despite its admirable ambition to become net zero carbon by 2040, the National Health Service (NHS) in England has an annual carbon footprint of 24.9 million tons of CO₂e. Meanwhile, the carbon footprint of an operating department in a large hospital in the United Kingdom is estimated at 5000 tons CO₂e annually, with a single operation estimated at 173 kg CO₂e. A report in The Lancet estimated that the healthcare sector is responsible for 4.6% of global carbon emissions.

Many of us are acutely aware of the unsustainability of our practice, but surgeons are notoriously time-poor and their priorities often fall elsewhere.