Nurse takes on new role to make NHS greener

A West Midlands nurse will be leading the way across England teaching healthcare staff how to be greener.
Rhea Conn, a critical care senior sister at Sandwell and West Birmingham (SWB) NHS Trust introduced a range of cost-saving net carbon zero initiatives at the organisation and will go on to share her learnings nationally so that other organisations can follow suit.
She joins the Greener NHS programme in a year-long secondment. It aims to reduce the impact on public health and the environment, save money and reach carbon net zero.
Rhea said: “I’m thrilled to be taking part in the Chief Sustainability Officer’s Clinical Fellow Scheme and I’m most looking forward to developing my leadership skills, understanding NHS operations from a national level and seeing another side of nursing.”
Rhea will be working at the centre of teams who are working to embed net zero carbon principles into the delivery of care.
The role sees healthcare professionals stepping out of their roles for 12 months to lead on key projects that will fundamentally change the way that care is designed, developed, and delivered across the system.
Rhea will have the opportunity to meet regularly with senior members of the Greener NHS team, wider NHSE policy teams and stakeholders,
She added: “I am hoping through this role, we can give more power to clinicians to make sustainability changes.”