Net Zero NHS: Imagining the Future
What was the challenge?
Climate change poses a significant threat to global health, and the NHS itself contributes roughly 4% of England's total carbon footprint. A national NHS net zero strategy was announced in 2020; widely welcomed by some, it lacked awareness and implementation measures, in particular for the patient-facing side of care.
The enormity and speed of change required to achieve a net zero NHS cannot be underestimated, and the pace of transformation needed requires those on the front line of decision-making to consider the implications today. In light of this, The Health Foundation tasked us with stimulating conversation and provoking thought among policymakers. Without an official vision for net zero care, our mission was to inspire dialogue and debate about the widespread changes that might be needed, and how we might get there.
What did we do?
We began by conducting a series of in-depth interviews with a range of experts working in sustainable healthcare and related fields to uncover their views on what care in a net zero NHS could and should look like for patients, and what they foresee as the biggest challenges in achieving this ambition.
Our resulting analysis uncovered a series of core themes underpinning the changes required and the path to achieving them, including a radical reinvention of the current business model, a rethinking of the doctor-patient power dynamics, and a focus on community health.
Working with this information we developed an immersive installation that would propel visitors 12 years forwards into one possible future of a health care system on its way to achieving net zero, where they could explore some of the potential challenges and opportunities for future health care – from individual, organisational and national perspectives.
The installation consisted of three spaces, each set up to show a scene at a different point in one day in 2036; four years before the NHS in England’s net zero target. The spaces were designed to help policy makers holistically explore potential challenges and opportunities for future health care and reflect on where we might be individually, nationally and globally. How might severe heat-waves, medical artificial intelligence and material changes to our medicines affect our everyday lives? How will the evolving political landscape and media environment shape the new patient normal? And what behaviours will need to change in order to bring about any service change?
Bespoke film, audio and fictional props housed in purposefully designed ‘rooms’ brought the installation to life. Each scene was specifically choreographed with synchronised lighting and multimedia assets. The result was a truly immersive audiovisual experience that transformed the Health Foundation’s offices for eight weeks in early 2024.
Following their immersion into our fictional future, healthcare policy makers then took part in a half-day workshop that enabled them to discuss and debate the complex and interconnected issues raised, reflect on the urgent questions and changes required, and take steps towards these.
