The UK and Irish Surgical Colleges have produced an Intercollegiate Green Theatre Checklist which they are encouraging surgeons and operating theatres to use during theatre briefing. The Checklist is designed to prompt us to think about changes we can make to reduce the environmental impact of our lists.
There are four sections: anaesthetic care, preparation for surgery, intra-operative and post operative. A copy of the Checklist is attached and is can be accessed via this link to the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh website “Green Theatre Checklist”
TheNZAGS Executive Committee discussed this “Green Theatre Checklist”Checklist at its MArch 2023 meeting. There was unanimous agreement that this was a valuable tool and that Aotearoa NZ surgeons be encouraged to utilise this as part of their operative checklist processes.
Contact has been made with the Edinburgh College by the Ao NZNB and it has given its approval for this to be promoted within Aotearoa NZ. The National Committee has promoted use of the Checklist in a our recent quarterly newsletter, Cutting Edge.
NZAGS would also like to bring to your attention a recent University of Otago report – ‘How Colleges Face a Sustainable Future – Actions on climate change by medical colleges and dental associations of Australia and New Zealand’. As this shows, there is still much work to be done in this sphere if medical practitioners (including surgeons) are to play their part in achieving envionmental sustainabilty for our and future generations.
Thank you for considering of adopting the Checklist.
