Multiple aspects of the carbon footprint plus are clinician sensitive, especially nurse and midwife sensitive, however, Trust level leadership around sustainability invariably sits within Estates. Whilst Estates teams are vital to the NHS achieving our net zero ambitions there is often a gap in structures that support clinician involvement. We know that 9 in 10 staff support a greener NHS. However, the unprecedented challenges within the NHS, mean healthcare professionals find a lack of time as a barrier to act and do not have protected time to focus on this. A dedicated sustainability hybrid role can address this problem.  

In addition, hybrid roles allows for targeted work in clinical areas, for instance within maternity services, which supports long term health benefits for service users, aligning with priorities such as SBLCB v.2, UNICEF BFI, OASI. Furthermore, this aligns with the NHS workforce plan and CNO ambition (shown below), by providing opportunities to support nurses and midwives to develop, and work to the full capacity of their skills and expertise are opportunities to retain and value the professions.