Survey of the endoscopy workforce’s perception of sustainability

Abstract

ObjectiveThe National Health Service is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, with endoscopy ranking as the third highest contributor of waste in healthcare. We aimed to ascertain the endoscopy workforce attitudes towards sustainable practices, barriers to change and potential solutions towards achieving a more sustainable endoscopy practice.MethodsA prospective cross-sectional online survey was distributed to endoscopy staff through the Joint Advisory Group on Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, the British Society of Gastroenterology (BSG), the Green Endoscopy Centre for Sustainable Healthcare Network and trainee research networks. The survey used a 5-point Likert scale to include:(1) perceived importance of sustainability in endoscopy, (2) factors contributing to waste generation in endoscopy, (3) barriers to sustainability in endoscopy and (4) strategies for sustainable changeResultsOf 202 participants, 83% were highly concerned about climate change and 71% recognised the significant carbon footprint generation within endoscopy. Lack of environmental consideration (77%), personal protective equipment and decontamination (76%), and packaging of single-use items (74%) were considered the most significant factors impacting waste generation in endoscopy. Participants ranked poor access to recyclable equipment (55%), poor awareness (52%) and poor attitudes (47%) as the main barriers to sustainable change. Concerningly, only a third would inform others if they noticed the wasting of resources.An overwhelming majority agreed with the BSG prioritising sustainability highly (84%), with 88.6% supporting policy and guideline development on sustainable endoscopy practice.ConclusionWe identified a strong consensus supporting the BSG’s prioritisation of activities relating to sustainability and climate change, with endoscopy being a key area of focus for improvement.