Call for evidence

We would like to hear from you if you have evidence from your service, trust or board that demonstrates the implementation of measures to deliver greener, more sustainable or net zero mental health care.

We are looking for evidence (including case studies, quality improvement projects or findings from academic research) of measures across the mental health care pathway, including primary, secondary and community care.

Examples of such measures include:

• opportunities for public and preventative mental health care (this can include prevention, early diagnosis, early detection and interventions to prevent deterioration or progression and use of acute services)
• decarbonising high carbon and resource intensive mental health care pathways (e.g., psychiatric intensive care units (PICUs) and chronic-term mental health care)
• efforts to reduce the carbon footprint of mental health services and care pathways, such as:
  • low carbon care, treatments and settings (e.g., green social prescribing, low carbon community care models)
  • changes to medication and prescription practices
  • reducing ward energy consumption (e.g., electricity efficiency efforts, improving insulation, solar panelling)
  • decarbonising supply chains (e.g., locally sourcing food to reduce shipping and air miles, reducing the use of single-use products,)
  • transport initiatives (e.g., staff car-pool initiatives, electric mental health response vehicles)
  • recycling and waste management (including reducing food waste on wards)

• alternative approaches to traditional mental health care provision (e.g., use of technology, digital and tele-health)
• methods to improve efficiency between and across health care services and staff involved in them (such as adaptations to pathways and routes into care, joined-up working etc.)
• training and education for the staff around sustainable practices
• patient engagement activities on the topic of mental health care provision and sustainability, or any patient-led initiatives aimed at making mental health care provision more environmentally sustainable.

We are interested in examples of interventions or approaches that your service has initiated with the aim of delivering greener, more sustainable or net zero mental health care.

We are interested in receiving examples of what has worked, as well as what has not worked. The intervention or approach need not have been measured or evaluated but where available, we would like to receive detail of findings/outcomes.

We are also collecting service's Green Plans as part of this work and ask for these to be shared in addition to case studies/evidence if available.

All of the evidence received will be reviewed, and some examples of successful initiatives will be chosen to feature within the report resulting from this work. You may also have the opportunity to showcase your initiatives at events to publicise this work.

Please submit your evidence using our form:

The deadline for submissions is 12pm on 11 April 2023.

Please provide your name and email in the form where indicated if you are happy for us to contact you with any queries. Please be careful not to disclose any identifying information about colleagues or patients in your submission.

If you would like further information or have any queries regarding submission please contact: netzeroMHC@rcpsych.ac.uk