Sustainability in critical care units: an opinion paper from the SFAR (French Society of Anaesthesia and Critical Care) Sustainability and Critical Care Committees

Abstract

The ecodesign of healthcare is an empowering approach that integrates environmental considerations throughout the entire life cycle of care. Its conciliation to both care quality and patient safety in critical care units is possible and essential. New data show that sustainability should be accounted for throughout the entire life cycle of care: design, manufacturing, distribution, use, and end-of-life valorization. Thus, attention has shifted towards a healthcare reform based on value, which encompasses the reduction of healthcare environmental impact. Considering the three pillars of sustainable development (environmental, social, and economic), recent studies on ecodesign of healthcare analyzed how to improve quality, security, and care value while reducing healthcare environmental impact. Here, we also outline potential courses of action in critical care units, including energy sobriety, water resources preservation, sustainable food, transport, waste management, cleaning and hygiene, medical devices and pharmaceuticals management, prescriptions reassessment, and quality of life for patients and healthcare providers. Implementing both sustainable strategies and ecodesign of healthcare in critical care units, as well as training healthcare providers, will help improve our healthcare system to be ecologically acceptable, socially just, and economically sustainable.

Keywords: Environmental awareness; critical care; ecodesign of healthcare; environmental impact; sustainability; sustainable healthcare.