Report of newspaper Trouw about sustainable healthcare

"It's bizarre that we cure people on the one hand, but on the other hand are also responsible for them getting sick." This is what Prof. Dr. Frank Willem Jansen, chairman of Medical Delta says in today’s newspaper Trouw about the need to make health care sustainable.

That quality and safety come first, Jansen, who is also chairman of the network De Groene OK, completely agrees. Nevertheless, he believes there is much to be gained in operating rooms. ORs are among the most environmentally damaging parts of hospitals. They cover about six percent of the area, but produce 30 percent of all waste and they consume a lot of energy. This is especially due to  the air treatment system that is supposed to provide a microbe-free environment in the operating room.

Many things in an OR exist out of habit habit, according to Jansen, without anyone even thinking about the necessity. Air treatment is a good example. "Because you can have emergency surgery on weekends or at night, it runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in all operating rooms. In fact, it would be enough if two ORs were permanently ready."

Large pieces of plastic

In the corridor of LUMC, he points out a dozen 'ready beds'. Cleaned, and then covered with a large piece of plastic. Other hospitals do it this way, too. Makes sense? Soon an absolutely non-sterile patient will lie on it, so no.

Read the full report from Trouw (NL) here.

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