MEDICUS May 2022

Care for a quality start to your medical career? Email juniordoctors@sjog.org.au St John of God Health Care offers a unique, hands-on learning experience for junior doctors. Our programs include flexible working arrangements, research opportunities and ongoing mentorship and supervision by WA’s leading specialists. With a supportive learning environment and a range of intern and RMO rotation streams across multiple specialty areas, we offer endless opportunities to grow. To learn more about the benefits of working with us, visit sjog.org.au/juniordoctors We’re here for you. desflurane (a volatile anaesthetic agent) saved $10,000 per month across the South Metropolitan Health Service. The Green Theatres Group continues to educate in a variety of ways – from newsletters, posters, department meetings and one-to-one discussions, to themed days, such as the annual ‘Operation Clean Up’ run by anaesthetic trainee organisation TRA2SH ( www.tra2sh.org ). We have also enlisted the support of our hospital’s executive team, and successfully advocated for the establishment of a SMHS Environmental Sustainability Steering Group, and for funding a Sustainability Officer to really amplify the work and spread awareness across the service. After combining efforts with colleagues at other hospitals, we realised the utility of having an expanded network across the State. The Green Theatres Network WA (GTN-WA) was thus born. It is free to join, and open to people from all disciplines, from both the public and private sectors. The GTN aims to facilitate collaboration between peri-operative services, and avoids the need to ‘reinvent the wheel’. Green Theatres Groups at individual institutions feed into the GTN, which can then provide state-wide advice and advocacy to a range of organisations, including the WA Health Department and other relevant, professional bodies. GTN-WA has held two in-person meetings so far, which were well attended and complete with enthusiastic presentations and small-group work. We have an educational website ( www.greentheatres.online ) and a Twitter feed ( @WAGreenTheatres ) to generate discussion and highlight the great work being achieved here and across the world. Recently we joined forces with the WA Country Health Service (WACHS) to run an educational webinar. Our hope is that this network will encourage the development of local Green Theatre Groups in every hospital in the State, and help to amplify their potential while working towards solutions for all of WA. To connect with us, please visit www.greentheatres. online, Twitter, or email adam.crossley@health. wa.gov.au, archana.shrivathsa@health.wa.gov.au or james.anderson2@health.wa.gov.au ■ References: 1. Malik A, Lenzen M, McAlister S, McGain F. The carbon footprint of Australian health care. Lancet Planet Health 2018; 2(1) E27-E35 DOI 10.1016/S2542-5196(17)30180-8 2. Kwakye G, Brat G, Makary M. Green Surgical Practices for Health Care. Arch Surg 2011; 146(2);131-136 DOI 10.1001/ archsurg.2010.343 M AY 2 0 2 2 M E D I C U S 23 C O V E R S T O R Y – C L I M A T E C H A N G E A C T I O N