Ecopharm: sustainable activities in the hospital pharmacy department.

Abstract

Background: In 2014-15 spent $161.6 billion on healthcare in which pharmaceuticals and hospitals were responsible for 63% of all healthcare greenhouse gas emissions. With a large portion of a hospital’s carbon footprint linked to the quality use of medications and devices, sustainable strategies must be implemented to minimise the large-scale impact on the environment. This situates the pharmacy sector in an ideal position to be a significant contributor in change leading toward a more sustainable healthcare industry. However, there remains a shortcoming in the awareness of pharmacy sustainability practices. Aim: To identify sustainable strategies implemented in hospital pharmacy departments across Australia. Methods: All private and public Australian hospitals with an on-site pharmacy department were contacted and asked to complete an electronic questionnaire. The questionnaire included a multiple choice section with pre-populated sustainable strategy options and a free-text section to submit other strategies. Results: 98 responses were collected from hospitals across Australia excluding Tasmania. From the pre-populated section, the top three sustainable actions all involved recycling methods. A further 69 free-text responses were submitted covering sustainable activities that can be summarised into the following categories: resource consumption (51), devices (10), environmental sustainability (3) and other (5). Discussion: The questionnaire responses were collected from pharmacy departments that varied in size, location and legislation. Although the effectiveness and outcome of these strategies were not measured, the results represent the vast array of different pharmacy activities currently underway. Different multistakeholders e.g. pharmaceutical companies, health professionals and consumers were also involved. These sustainable strategies are not only limited to the hospital pharmacy sector, but can be redesigned for all pharmacies and different industries alike.