Royal Pharmaceutical Society
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) has been awarded an NHS England contract to develop a greener pharmacy guide and accreditation scheme.
Under the contract, which is worth £70,000, the Society will create guidance and a self-assessment toolkit to help community and hospital pharmacy teams reduce their environmental impact.
It will also develop an accreditation programme so that pharmacy teams can display their sustainability status if they complete the actions outlined in the guidance.
The contract description, originally published when put out for tender on 31 January 2023, said: “The guidance and accreditation scheme will bring together new and existing information and guidance for pharmacies and pharmacy staff on actions to reduce the environmental impact of healthcare, medicines, and pharmacy practices, where appropriate.”
In a press release published on 12 May 2023, the RPS said that the guidance “will enable pharmacy teams to self-assess their impact against the standards, benchmark and improve through evidence-based activities and actions”.
The RPS added that the guidance and a digital self-assessment toolkit will integrate with carbon calculator tools to help pharmacy teams to reduce their carbon footprint and improve sustainability.
Elen Jones, director lead for the RPS environmental sustainability programme and director for RPS Wales, said: “The RPS wants to support teams to identify areas where they can make sustainable changes to decrease the environmental impact of the services and clinical care they provide.”
Peter Morgan, medicines assistant director at NHS England, said: “The new Greener Pharmacy Guidance and Self-accreditation scheme will provide support for pharmacy professionals by outlining clear actions to deliver more environmentally sustainable pharmacy practices.”
A consultation on the draft guidance will take place in October 2023. The guidance will then be piloted and the full scheme will launch by spring 2024.
