Today (17 April 2024), the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists is pleased to announce a new collaborative project to tackle carbon and health inequity hotspots in the maternity care pathway.
As part of its work to support its membership to respond to the climate crisis and advocate for a healthier future for women and girls, the College will be partnering with the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare (CSH), The Sustainable Healthcare Coalition (SHC), and the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) to deliver the year-long project. This important work will be funded following a successful joint entry to the SBRI Healthcare Competition 24, under the category of Clinical Community Engagement.
The project will engage the multi-disciplinary maternity community to study maternity care pathways with the aim of identifying and tackling carbon and health inequity hotspots. The 'Taking collective action to deliver low carbon, equitable maternity care' project’s ultimate aim is to produce findings that can ensure future maternity care is delivered in the most sustainable way possible.
People with experience of using maternity services will be engaged throughout this project to ensure the innovations identified benefit the whole maternity system and equitably support the needs of everyone using maternity services.
Dr Ranee Thakar, President of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, said, “A key priority for my term of office as president is to work with the membership to bring about meaningful change in response to the climate crisis. The College has made great strides in recent years to make its operations more sustainable. We are delighted to be working with the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, The Sustainable Healthcare Coalition and the Royal College of Midwives. I wish to build on this work to date and support meaningful changes in the way we practice to ensure we become increasingly more sustainable in the way we all deliver care.”
Emma Crookes, Lived Experience Group Chair and co-Vice Chair RCOG Women’s Network, said, “At the heart of this work is a diverse group of 10 members of the public with lived experience of using maternity services, who will support the development of initiatives to reduce carbon and promote sustainability. The group will ensure that the needs of women and people accessing maternity care remain central to this project and that any proposed solutions to tackling carbon and health inequity hotspots support choice, informed consent and personalised care whilst not exacerbating health inequalities or contributing to experiences of poor care.”
This work was commissioned and funded by SBRI Healthcare. SBRI Healthcare is an Accelerated Access Collaborative (AAC) initiative, in partnership with the Health Innovation Network.
- Read more about the College's ambition for sustainability and climate change here.