Examining sustainable practice in prescribing

Last month, the research roundup provided you with an overview of articles looking at prescribing in a young population. This month, we look at the emerging concept of green and sustainable prescribing. The first article examines barriers to green inhaler prescribing in clinical practice, while the second has a focus on general practice and sustainability. Finally, we review a perspective piece on taking a sustainable approach to healthcare in the 21st century.

This article, published in the Journal of Medical Ethics, sought to identify the barriers to prescribing more environmentally friendly inhalers (Parker, 2023). One of the drivers for this article was the 2020 NHS declaration that it intended to become net carbon neutral for all emissions under its direct control by 2040.

One known area of prescribing that contributed to greenhouse gas emissions was that of the prescribing of metered- dose inhalers. It was identified that many patients could, in fact, move from these traditionally used inhalers to dry powder inhalers, which do not contain these powerful greenhouse gases without any loss of therapeutic effect. The authors of the paper give a very good and useful overview of the carbon footprint of inhaler prescribing which sets the paper well and gives valuable context.