Seven professional organisations representing frontline clinicians in Scotland have issued a joint call for urgent action to cut the environmental impact of prescribing – saying that the next Scottish government and Holyrood parliament must support the NHS to address the carbon emissions and wastage from the way medicines are currently being used.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS), the professional organisation for pharmacy, and the Royal College of General Practitioners in Scotland (RCGP Scotland), have come together to launch a ‘Manifesto for Health and Climate’.

The document is being endorsed by the British Dental Association Scotland, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Edinburgh, Royal College of Anaesthetists, Faculty of Public Health, and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.

The organisations say they support the NHS in Scotland to reach its ambition to become net zero by 2040 but say, to achieve this, the Scottish government, health service, pharmaceutical industry and education providers for the sector need to work together to reduce the impacts relating to medicines use, estimated to be around 25% of all carbon emissions in the NHS.

The manifesto calls on the next Scottish government to:

1. Urgently accelerate the electronic prescribing programme, by allocating appropriate resource; 
2. Provide specific funding to primary care to improve sustainable medication disposal;
3. Enable green social prescribing initiatives across Scotland including with public messaging;
4. Ensure that the pharmaceutical industry makes information about the environmental impact of medicines readily available in a standardised data format.
5. Work with Scottish Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) and the Scottish Medicines Consortium (SMC) to publish and disseminate information about the environmental impact of medicines in their guidelines.
6. Ensure education providers support prescribers by including environmental sustainability in education and training for health professionals. 

The Chair of RCGP Scotland, Dr Chris Provan says focusing on medicines and prescribing presents a significant opportunity for change:

"By encouraging best practice in prescribing, improving how medicines are disposed of, and increasing awareness among prescribers about the environmental impact of pharmaceuticals, we can make meaningful progress.

"We welcome the recent progress in funding allocated to the e-prescribing programme for primary care. However, it is equally important to reduce unnecessary medication use by promoting social prescribing initiatives and ensuring strong public messaging to raise awareness and understanding.

"I hope the next Scottish government will work collaboratively with those on the frontline to reduce healthcare’s environmental impact which will deliver benefits for patients, the planet, and practitioners alike."

The Director of the RPS in Scotland, Laura Wilson says pharmacists have a central role to play in health and climate:

“As medicines experts, pharmacists have unique insight into how medicines can be used more sustainably and safely which would not only reduce impact on the environment but also provide better outcomes for patients.

“It is vital that the next Scottish government works with health professional leadership bodies and Royal Colleges to tackle medicines waste, enable green social prescribing initiatives and increase the amount of information available to allow more sustainable prescribing decisions to be made.

“Although Royal Pharmaceutical Society is leading on this work with our RCGP colleagues, our calls are strongly backed by health professional leadership bodies and Royal Colleges right across Scotland. I thank all of them who endorse this document, which strengthens our collective call to action.”

You can read the manifesto here.

Read more: NHS Scotland net zero efforts expanded; Greener NHS research funding boost; Pharmacists urge leaders to act for the profession;

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