The Greener Primary Care Wales Framework and Award Scheme was first launched in June 2022 by the Primary Care Division, Public Health Wales.
What is the Scheme?
The award-winning scheme supports the four independent primary care contractor services in Wales (community pharmacy, dental, general practice, and optometry) to improve the environmental sustainability of their day-to-day practice and to reach the Welsh Government decarbonisation targets.
It has been developed in collaboration with a wide range of stakeholders and is formally endorsed by the Royal College of General Practitioners, the British Dental Association, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, Optometry Wales, and Community Pharmacy Wales.
Climate change is the biggest challenge to health in the medium and long term and the consequences are likely to be wide-ranging and adverse. There has been an increased call to action for all health professionals, arguing that restoring patients to good health includes helping to create healthy environments.
In April 2019 the Welsh Government declared a climate emergency and committed to achieving a carbon-neutral public sector by 2030. More recently they have stated their ambition for net zero emissions for all sectors by 2050. In March 2021, the Welsh Government published the NHS Wales Decarbonisation Strategic Delivery Plan 2021-2030.
In Wales, the Greener Primary Care Wales Framework and Award Scheme closely aligns to our legislative and policy context. Many of the actions within the Framework align the following:
The agenda is also supported by other Welsh legislation and policy including: A Healthier Wales 2018, The Active Travel Plan Wales 2016, Healthy Weight Healthy Wales 2019 and Corporate Social Responsibility.
A statement from Marie Brousseau-Navarro, the current Deputy Commissioner and Director for Health:
“Hello, I’m Marie Brousseau-Navarro and as the Deputy Future Generations Commissioner for Wales and Director for Health, I would encourage the whole primary care sector and contractors to sign up to the Greener Primary Care Wales Framework and Award Scheme. I was honoured to present the well-deserved Healthier Wales NHS Welsh Sustainability Award 2024 to the team who created the Scheme.
The climate and nature emergencies are directly impacting our health, and human health directly depends on planet health. By registering your practice and completing actions within the Framework you’ll be contributing towards a more sustainable healthcare system, a more sustainable Wales and a Globally Responsible Wales which both our present and future generations desperately need.
We know that our healthcare systems are responsible for high emissions and high levels of waste. And not just our big hospitals, but our community pharmacies, our dental and general practices, and optometry too. We need to make the links between climate change and the health of our communities and act at pace. We all have a role to play, and this Framework helps us adopt a wide breadth of actions which can suit anyone.
The Greener Primary Care Wales Framework is designed to help change our practices and behaviours, it is fun, rewarding and aligned with our collective values and care. Your actions could be anything from changing procurement models, changing how we travel, reducing our waste and managing our carbon footprint. Start small but please scale up your action so you soon feel truly adventurous.
Signing up will help provide a better present and a better future for our children and their future generations. Find out how you can do your bit for free by signing up to the Greener Primary Care Wales Framework and Award Scheme today!”
Year 1 (2022)
2022 saw the first cohort of primary care contractors awarded as part of the Scheme.
A recording of the Greener Primary Care Wales Framework and Award Scheme launch webinar is available to view below. The webinar provides an overview of the Scheme and explains how to get involved.
Year 2 (2023)
2023 saw the second cohort of primary care contractors awarded as part of the scheme. A recording of the Greener Primary Care Wales Framework and Award Scheme relaunch webinar is available to view below. The webinar provides an overview of the Scheme and explains how to get involved.
Julie James MS, Minister for Climate Change (2021-2014), speaking about the Greener Primary Care Framework and Award Scheme: "As a nation we strive to be forward thinking in our approach to climate change and this is a perfect example of how we can translate policy into action":
Bevan Exemplar
In 2021, the Greener Primary Care Wales Framework and Award Scheme was accepted onto Cohort 7 of the Bevan Exemplar Programme under the theme of ‘Doing things differently for a prudent sustainable recovery’.
On an individual level, zero waste is an extremely high bar to aim for and it can certainly seem quite intimidating. However, the Greener Primary Care Wales Framework advocates for a large number of people making small changes because the evidence suggests this will have a bigger impact overall than a small number of people making big changes.