IHSCM Greener Care Masterclass with Lorna Turner

This IHSCM Greener Care Masterclass featuring Lorna Turner, sustainability lead for the Devon Care Homes Collaborative, explores the practical benefits of digitisation in residential care homes as a means to promote environmental sustainability. Commissioned by the NHS, the case studies focus on transitioning from paper-based to cloud-based rostering and electronic medication administration records. These digital tools improve operational efficiency, reduce costs, empower staff, and align with the Care Quality Commission’s (CQC) environmental sustainability quality statement. The conversation covers the planning and implementation of the studies, challenges in quantifying environmental impact—especially regarding supply chain emissions—and the importance of documenting both qualitative and quantitative data. Lorna emphasises the incremental, yet vital contribution of digital interventions towards broader Net Zero goals within social care. She also provides practical advice for those conducting similar case studies, highlights useful carbon footprint tools, and underlines the importance of tailored communication to different stakeholders. Finally, she advocates continuous learning and active engagement across the sector to enhance sustainability efforts. Highlights 🌍 NHS-commissioned digital case studies demonstrate time, cost, and environmental benefits in care homes. 💻 Transition from paper-based to cloud-based digital tools improves accuracy, compliance, and staff empowerment. 📊 Challenges in measuring supply chain carbon footprints (scope 3 emissions) remain significant. 📅 Careful planning considered care home workloads and seasonal pressures to secure meaningful participation. 🤝 Financial incentives helped secure commitment from care homes for participation in studies. 🎯 Tailored communication and stakeholder engagement are key to driving buy-in and understanding. 📚 Continuous learning and sector-wide collaboration support ongoing sustainability improvements. Key Insights 🌱 Digitisation as a sustainability enabler: Implementing cloud-based systems not only streamlines operations but also helps reduce carbon emissions by cutting down on agency staff travel and paper use, exemplifying how digital transformation supports sustainability goals. 🔍 Complexity of carbon footprint measurement: While direct emissions from energy use and transport (scope 1 and 2) are more accessible to monitor, scope 3 emissions—mainly from supply chains—pose a considerable data challenge, limiting precise quantification but not diminishing the importance of action. 🕰️ Importance of timing and engagement: Recognising care home operational challenges, especially during winter months, and offering financial compensation ensured higher quality and commitment, reflecting the value of pragmatic scheduling and incentivisation in research involving frontline services. 🧩 Environmental impact as part of a broader puzzle: Digitisation alone doesn’t solve sustainability issues but forms a critical piece, raising awareness and encouraging further actions that many care homes may already be taking unknowingly. 📊 Balancing qualitative and quantitative data: Qualitative feedback from staff interviews complements the numerical data, providing richer insight into the benefits and practical improvements wrought by digitisation, such as enhanced staff empowerment via real-time rota access. 🎯 Tailored communication strategies improve adoption: Understanding the audience—whether staff, management, or funders—and using relatable channels and methods boosts the effectiveness of sustainability messaging and supports behavioural change. 💡 Need for sector-specific tools: Current carbon footprint calculators are generic and often complex; there is a strong need for free, accessible, sector-tailored tools that use familiar language to help care homes accurately assess and manage their environmental impacts efficiently.