FRIDAY, 22 APRIL, 2021

Immediate release: Link to NTC-T animation https://youtu.be/1wFKEiTcpK8

The National Treatment Centre – Tayside is going green

The National Treatment Centre – Tayside (NTC-T) at Perth Royal Infirmary is going green with plans to build and run the unit in a sustainable and environmentally-friendly way.

Through both local and national efforts, the NTC-T aims to minimise the environmental impact of the centre, from its construction all the way through to treating patients.

The proposals for the NTC-T will see a purpose-built unit with five new theatres to complement the five existing theatres at Perth Royal Infirmary (PRI). The centre will also have two enhanced treatment rooms for ophthalmology and day procedures as well as dedicated patient rooms for all pre and post operative checks and a short stay unit.

The NTC-T project team is currently working on the design of the state-of-the-art centre, which will have net-zero greenhouse emissions and be heated from renewable sources. This is in line with new Scottish Government policy and guidance around sustainable design, construction and development.

NHS Tayside theatre teams are getting ahead of the game by starting to take all the practical steps they can to reduce waste, pollution and other adverse environmental and climatic effects associated with healthcare. NHS Tayside consultant anaesthetist Dr Pavan Raju even exhibited at the COP 26 Climate Change Conference in Glasgow last year.

NHS Tayside anaesthetic teams are following the good work of the Green Theatre Project, pioneered in Raigmore Hospital in Inverness. They are spreading the word about the simple measures hospital teams can take, such as challenging the single-use equipment culture, banning disposable cups, improving recycling and waste management streams, and encouraging active travel.

More technical innovations include moving from older, more polluting anaesthetic gases and drugs to greener alternatives, and adopting ecological choice in drug and product procurement.

PRI consultant anaesthetist Dr Michael Forster, who is Clinical Director for the NTC-T, said, “A common theme through all these measures is the need to change our culture, so that environmental and climate issues become vital parts of everything we do to deliver the National Treatment Centre – Tayside.

“Through innovative and climate-focused design and construction we will build a net-zero carbon centre. With environmental awareness embedded in our culture, we will then be able to deliver excellence in patient care day to day while not harming our planet.”

Watch our animation to find out more about the plans for the NTC-T

Notes to Editors

• The National Treatment Centre – Tayside will be part of a national network of treatment centres being created across Scotland.

• The Tayside centre will offer a range of routine procedures for patients in specialities including breast surgery, general surgery, gynaecology, neurosurgery, oral maxillofacial surgery, orthopaedics, ophthalmology, plastic surgery, urology, dermatology and ear, nose and throat (ENT).

• The Scottish Government has published a new policy and guidance around sustainable design, construction and development as part of its response to the global climate emergency.

• This new legislation means that all new NHS buildings or major refurbishments must have net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and that all NHS buildings must be heated from renewable sources by 2038 or earlier.

Contact:

Louise Wilson

NHS Tayside Communications

(01382) 740718