Guide to new CQC Environmental Sustainability requirements

A guide for practices on how to comply with the CQC's new Quality Statement on Environmental Sustainability, your role in reducing your carbon footprint and how to adapt to climate change.

You may know that the CQC Key Lines of Enquiry (KLOEs) are being replaced by 34 Quality or ‘We’ Statements. As part of the New Assessment Framework CQC have developed new areas of assessment, one of which is Environmental Sustainability.

Environmental Sustainability sits within the Well-Led Key Question and Regulation 17: Good Governance.

CQC may also consider how providers are adapting to climate change within:

  • the Quality Statement ‘Governance, management and sustainability and
  • in the Safe Key Question, ‘Safe environments’.

Quality Statement: Environmental sustainability – sustainable development

We understand any negative impact of our activities on the environment, and strive to make a positive contribution in reducing it and support people to do the same.

When CQC inspectors assess this Quality Statement (and the others identified above) they will consider what efforts providers have made to:

  • become more environmentally sustainable.
  • understand their carbon footprint and act to reduce it.
  • Adapt to climate change e.g. through following adverse weather policies.

It is going to become more important to reduce any adverse impact on the environment whilst also ensuring services are able to respond to environmental changes including impact on people’s health and operational service delivery.

Supporting people to consider and reduce their environmental impact

  1. Learn about people’s interest and knowledge in sustainability. There may be ways you can help them to understand more, and conversely, they may have insights and ideas that can help you. Lots of people have sustainable lifestyle tips we can all learn from.
  2. Pop the poster at the end of this document up in your staff or waiting area. ‘Giki’ is a free app that helps people approximate their carbon footprint and gives them tips on how to reduce it.
  3. Signpost people to environmentally friendly activities and third sector organisations where they can learn more.
  4. Encourage recycling and composting, environmentally friendly packaging. Have recycling bins for the public to use, for example.

CQC and guidance for practices

We are waiting for CQC to publish the new guidance and will update practices as more information becomes available. In the meantime, here are some ways you can start thinking about the Environmental Sustainability Quality Statement.

What can you do now to prepare?

  1. Consider a co-production project team involving people, families, staff, and other stakeholders to explore how environmentally sustainable you are now, and what new systems or initiatives you can consider introducing.
  2. Review the quality statement against your existing governance systems, including quality assurance, audits, and the feedback (questionnaires, surveys) you receive. Consider what new systems, practices and training may be required (the. Your analysis and actions assure the regulator that your organisation has the governance systems and audit processes required to ensure people receive safe, effective, caring, responsive and well-led care and support.
  3. Consider your current systems and other opportunities, e.g., new technologies, renewable technologies, partnership/integrated ways of working, reducing carbon footprint and energy efficiency measures that could help the environment, improve people’s experiences, and save you money!
  4. Adopt sustainable procurement and ensure supply chains are as environmentally sustainable as possible.
  5. Consider how care is delivered in your service. Think co-production to benefit from staff/people’s knowledge and expertise and consider what else you could do. Options could include:
  • Measure the environmental impact of your organisational activities.
  • Develop key performance indicators (KPIs) to reduce waste and improve the organisation’s performance in relation to the environment.
  • Minimise care miles, e.g. (‘efficient travel and visit schedules’), and staff using more sustainable transport options.
  • Utilise video conferencing options for meetings/ clinics etc.
  • Ensure care is preventative, person-centred and based on best practices to ensure high-quality services that do the right things once and reduce the use of limited resources. This could include effective communication and information sharing, and more collaborative working.
  • Local partnership arrangements could support more sustainable approaches and save you money.
  • Consider what green technologies could help you to reduce impact and improve environmental sustainability.
  • Consider the impact of products on the environment, including packaging, disposal and whether there are better, more environmentally friendly alternatives.
  • Develop a learning culture for sustainability.
  1. Review policies and business continuity plans to ensure they are up to date. Test continuity plans regularly. Include consideration of how you will respond to adverse weather (floods, heatwaves and other extreme weather events) and how you will manage disruptions to supplies of energy, food, water or staffing. 
  2. Utilse Greener NHS -10 point green plan for practices. It includes links that will support your practice’s journey to becoming more sustainable.
Return to header