My name is Alice Seymour; I am at the University of Bristol studying medicine in third year. I have just started my clinical years on the wards, finally talking to patients, and feel that as students we are the key change in the NHS. Although I do not know much about global health and climate change at the moment I am very keen to learn and hope that I will be able to assist the Bristol NHS in taking steps towards a more sustainable future, when my peers and I will be working within the NHS.
From the training weekend I have learnt:
· About the wide range of opportunities available for us as programme directors to get involved with. I am now aware of both the managerial route of action and the clinical route and how best to put my skills and interests to use throughout this programme.
· The effectiveness of long and hard ‘grunt work’ over shouting at a problem and that sometimes for a little benefit a lot of behind the scenes action takes place. We should learn to ‘change with the system rather than shout at the system’.
· The importance of reframing issues, by putting them into context, so as to create the largest impact on your chosen audience. Bring solutions and advantages to people not problems.
· A lot more about climate change and global health in general, in particular the health co-benefits and the significant proportion of the NHS carbon footprint created by procurement.
· Lastly i have become aware of all the current organisations and groups currently acting to educate others about climate change and encourage people and industries to become sustainable and reduce carbon emissions.
Over the next 8 months i am looking forward to:
· Developing my knowledge on climate change, global health and the NHS through self directed learning and talking to other programme directors, Mustafa, David and Frances.
· Working with other programme directors and finding like-minded individuals in Bristol.
· Creating international links.
· Getting stuck in to helping the NHS become more sustainable.
Motivation
· I am interested in setting up a network, of students at the University of Bristol and the University of West of England and staff within various hospitals within the Bristol NHS trust, to make people aware of the issues and provide education on how to tackle climate change at a local level. I also hope that through the network there will be the possibility of continuing the programme after the 8 months.
· Self directed learning and education is important to me. I would like to understand climate change and global health in greater detail so I can confidently talk to; others within the field, people who wish to learn more about sustainability and cynics who do not think we can make a valuable difference. I also hope to learn how to be sustainable at home and within a hospital ward.
· I want to create a tangible case study of the whole 8 months in the hope that it can be used and adapted by other NHS trusts across the country. They will be able to see what works and what does not work at Bristol and compare this to their own trusts.
· I am interested in creating an international link with Kenya. I visited Kisumu, western Kenya in Aug 09, and saw firsthand the health services available and the problems faced in particular by orphans and vulnerable children. I would like to contact a medical student through KOP (the Kenyan Orphan Project) whom i am a volunteer for and see if anyone is interested in learning more about climate change and global health or setting up a similar programme in the future. If i am not able to find anyone in Kenya i would be interested in looking at another country for an international link.
Specific involvement
I want to get involved with the clinical pathway Dr Frances showed us. I am particularly interested in either mental health (my placement for summer term) or oncology. I would like to see if there are any similar 10:10 programmes in action and either monitor the progress, assist in the initiation or assess the outcomes of these programmes. The reason i would like to focus on mental health or oncology is that they are two areas in which i am considering specialising in the future although I am happy to focus on another speciality if needed.
I plan to look into travel or waste management auditing and the possibility to assess or create a GP carbon footprint tool (i am aware that one GP surgery in Bristol has signed up to the 10:10 pledge).
Plan so far
Within the next week I hope to contact David and Frances and see their thoughts on how I should begin my 8 months and my overall aims for the programme. Complete self directed learning and look into creating a network of students and NHS staff.
Over the next 14 days I will create a letter to send to the clinical and medical director of the Bristol NHS trust and within the next month I will attempt to create an international link and interview someone within the Bristol NHS trust. I will continue to develop my own education on climate change and global health and communicate with the other programme directors to discuss the methods which have worked and ideas which have not worked so well.
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