Healthcare Academy’s inaugural sustainability course guides healthcare workers on sustainable practices.
When people think about carbon emissions, the industries that come to mind are usually transportation, power and manufacturing.
One lesser-known industry that contributes to emissions is healthcare. According to the World Economic Forum, healthcare contributes around four per cent of global carbon emissions – more than the shipping and aviation sectors.
In fact, Singapore's healthcare sector remains one of the top carbon emitters globally, ranking second amongst 68 countries, according to a study by a global non-governmental organisation.
One of the key carbon emitters in hospitals is an anaesthetic gas called desflurane, which is used in almost every operating theatre.
Using a single 240ml bottle of desflurane has the same effect as burning 440kg of coal, which produces 886kg of carbon dioxide.
In 2022, the Singapore Government announced its net-zero carbon emissions target by 2050.
To support the Government’s emissions target, unions are hoping that workers can lead the way in sustainable practices.
On 28 October 2024, NTUC LearningHub, through its Healthcare Academy, conducted its inaugural sustainability course for some 40 Healthcare Services Employees' Union (HSEU) union leaders.
During the course, union leaders were introduced to the concept of sustainability, its impact and opportunities, and the implementation of sustainability in healthcare.
One of the participants was Julianah Omar, a nurse working in infection and prevention control at Alexandra Hospital.
She said sustainability was never really at the top of her because of the low temperature maintained to keep the area and equipment sterile.
“Unfortunately, in infection control, we cannot compromise patients’ safety,” she explained.
However, after taking the course, Julianah understands the importance of having an open mind towards sustainability and seeing how her department can do things differently.
Julianah will be encouraging other union members in her branch to attend the course.
She added: “Each of them have different roles in their own departments. It’s about understanding that everything we do affects the environment. I hope after attending this course, they can influence other people on the ground.”
SingHealth Chief Operating Officer (Environmental Sustainability) Tan Tai Kiat encouraged union leaders to bring the ideas back to their organisations and encourage them to consider sustainable practices.
“It gives everyone a very good opportunity to see how we can take sustainability forward,” he said.
HSEU Executive Secretary Steven Goh said that there are plans to expand the course to other unions in NTUC.
“At the end of the day, it’s not just one union doing the work. If we can have all 58 unions coming together, we can all work together to achieve greater sustainability,” he explained.
Mr Goh said an agreement is in the works with the Agency of Logistics and Procurement Services (ALPS) to explore ways to improve transformation, job redesign and skills upgrading projects aimed at promoting automation and sustainability across the three healthcare clusters and their suppliers.
ALPS handles the procurement and logistics of the three public healthcare clusters in Singapore. The three healthcare clusters in Singapore comprise Singapore Health Services, National Healthcare Group and National University Health System.
“An MOU [memorandum of understanding] with them [ALPS] will affect change downstream to make its vendors more sustainable to benefit the whole ecosystem,” Mr Goh added.
Another upcoming agreement is with the Centre for Healthcare Innovation. The agreement seeks to improve workers' training and capabilities in artificial intelligence and sustainability.
If you or your company need a free sustainability diagnostic toolkit, or interested in the NTUC Company Training Committee grant, reach out to the Healthcare Services Employees' Union at hseu@ntuc.org.sg.
