NHS Ocean Virtual Launch
NHS Ocean aims to conserve and protect coastal and marine ecosystems through minimising harm resulting from the procurement and delivery of healthcare whilst increasing awareness of the benefits to human health and wellbeing from healthy seas, coasts, and waterways.
We will do this through advancing the education of healthcare and public health professionals and the public on the interdependence between human and oceanic health and collaboration, encouraging engagement with research institutions, environmental organisations, and communities.
The NHS Ocean is a group of motivated individuals from healthcare, marine science, emvronmental/public health, shipping and active living
We work in our own time to ensure ocean health is considered and, where appropriate, included within healthcare strategy
The NHS Ocean Launch event was jointly delivered by NHS Ocean and the University of Exeter to learn about the impacts of the healthcare sector on both the ocean and human health. Hear first-hand accounts from individuals and communities involved in positive action to help conserve and enjoy the health and wellbeing benefits and sustainable interactions with the Ocean. Engage with others in NHS Ocean to enable positive and sustainable change.
Format
Through a light-touch interview, participants were introduced to the personal story of how NHS Ocean came about, followed by interactive panels on both global issues (e.g. procurement) and individual/community issues (e.g. social prescribing), and how interactions with and restoration of blue spaces can impact on health and the role of the NHS. This then lead to breakout groups to engage participants to share their own stories and to inspire actions. The meeting concluded with a call to interdisciplinary and trans-sector collaborations actions in NHS Ocean going forward.
Launch Objectives
- Briefly describe the impacts of the healthcare sector on both ocean and human health. The focus will be on the UK NHS, but clearly, NHS Ocean can have wider international significance;
- Provide exemplars of individuals and communities involved in positive action to help conserve and enjoy the healthcare benefits and opportunities of sustainable interactions with the Ocean;
- Involve the participants and many others to engage in NHS Ocean.
Programme
13:00 – 13:30 – WELCOME, INTRODUCTIONS AND FRAMING THE LAUNCH
13:00 – 13:05 – Setting the Scene
Professor Lora Fleming, Director of the European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter
13:05 – 13:20 – In conversation
Professor Lora Fleming speaks with Dr Richard Hixson, Consultant in Critical Care Country Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust and co-founder of NHS Ocean, and Dr Georgina Sowman, GP North East England and PHE Physical Activity Clinical Champion and co-founder of NHS Ocean
13:20 – 13:30 – NHS Sustainability & Net Zero
Dr Nick Watts, NHS Chief Sustainability Officer
13:30 – 15:15 – INTERACTIVE PANELS
13:30 – 14:00 PANEL I – THE BIG PICTURE: PROCUREMENT, BIOTECHNOLOGY, BLUE CARBON
- Procurement, container shipping and oceanic harm – Dr Richard Hixson, Consultant in Critical Care Country Durham and Darlington NHS Foundation Trust and co-founder of NHS Ocean
- Supplier engagement - Nicki Dill – Chair of Barema
- Revolution ZERO – circular economy and reusable PPE – Dr Tom Dawson, concept founder of Revolution ZERO and co-founder Rutherford Research Limited
- Marine biotechnology – Dr Timothy Bouley, CEO and co-founder BIOFEYN
- Blue carbon – Professor Nicky Beaumont, Plymouth Marine Laboratory
14:00 – 14:30 – PANEL II – THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE COMMUNITY
- General Practitioner and NHS Ocean co-founder – Dr Georgie Sowman, GP North East England and PHE Physical Activity Clinical Champion NE
- General Practitioner and Founder of Greener Practice - Dr Aarti Bansal, Sheffield GP, Net-zero NHS GP lead for Humber Coast and Vale Health and Care Partnership, Honorary Senior Lecturer at Hull York Medical School.
- INCLUSEA Project: Blue health researcher - Dr Easkey Britton, Marine social scientist, expert on ocean therapies, world-renowned surfer and author of Saltwater in the Blood.
- Oceans and Human Health Chair - Dr Josep Lloret Romañach, University of Girona, Catalonia, Spain
- BlueHealth: Measuring impacts of bluespace on public health – Dr Lewis Elliott, Lecturer, European Centre for Environment and Human Health
- NASP and Global Alliance of Social Prescribing – Dr Bogdan Chiva Giurca, Foundation Doctor
14:30 – 14:40 – Tea/Coffee Break
14:40 – 15:05 – BREAKOUT ROOMS – FROM KNOWLEDGE TO ACTION
Focus is to draw on participants’ experience, guided by a facilitator, to identify at least one action to commit to/ drive forward.
15:05 – 15:20 – FOSTERING A TRANS-SECTOR COLLABORATIVE NETWORK
Dr Richard Hixson and Dr Georgie Sowman will bring together the committed action from the previous session.
15:20 – 15:30 – CLOSE OF MEETING
Professor Michael Depledge CBE, Non-Executive Director of Eden Project International Ltd, will summarise the vision of the NHS Ocean going forward.
CPD points applied for through the Royal College of Physicians
A visual illustrator, Eleanor Beer, sketched the launch in real-time. View illustration.
Speakers
Dr Richard Hixson
Consultant in Critical Care; NHS Clinical Entrepreneur; Co-founder NHS Ocean
Dr Richard Hixson has been a Consultant in Critical Care since 2001 and past Deputy Medical Director leading on major projects such as the Acute Intervention Team, Local Safety Standards for Invasive Procedures and Learning from Excellence.
He is the Trust’s Clinical Lead for Sustainability representing my organisation on the Northeast ‘ICS’ Group, am a Trustee of the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare, member of the HEENE Faculty of Sustainable Healthcare Education, member of NHS England’s Sustainable Procurement Forum and a healthcare sustainability advisor to Durham County Council.
He co-founded the NHS Ocean as his main interest was Global Goal 14, Life Below Water and how anthropogenic activities including healthcare procurement and container shipping adversely affected the marine environment. Richard’s goal is to ensure oceans, coasts and inland waterways are never forgotten in our NHS net zero planning and ensure we extend the ethos of first, do no harm from patient to planet.
Dr Georgie Sowman
General Practitioner; PHE Physical Activity Champion; Co-founder NHS Ocean
Dr Georgie Sowman is a GP in the North East and PHE Physical Activity Clinical Champion for North East England. She is the RCGP NE Faculty Sustainability lead, and a member of the RCGP Climate and Ecological advisory group.
She is a member of HENEE Faculty of sustainability and represents General Practice on the NE Sustainability ICS. She has an interest in Planetary Health and integrating sustainable clinical care into everyday practice.
Georgie is the co-founder of NHS Ocean whose aim is to ensure that Healthcare impact on Oceanic Health is not forgotten, whilst advocating the benefits of healthy blue spaces and waterways to human health - in particular to those with the least equal access to health.
Dr Josep Lloret Romañach
Associate Professor and Director of the Oceans and Human Health Chair at the University of Girona
Dr Josep Lloret Romañach previously worked at the Institute of Marine Sciences (CSIC) in Barcelona, the CNRS in Perpignan (France) and the Thünen Institute in Hamburg (Germany). He has also conducted research at the NOAA-NMFS (United States), Reykjavik University (Iceland) and IPB University (Indonesia). His research focuses on the topic Oceans and Human Health (OHH) and comprises two different lines:
1) Relationships between marine ecosystems and the health and well-being of people:
Healthy foods from the sea; Benefits for physical and mental health linked to life on the coast and to the practice of activities at sea; Health risks from marine ecosystems; Bioactive potential of marine organisms as a source of new medicines
2) Conservation of marine ecosystems and resources:
Impacts of professional and recreational fishing on habitats and exploited vulnerable species; Effect of climate change on marine resources and habitats; The condition of fish as an indicator of fish and ecosystem health; marine reserves as management tools
Emeritus Professor Michael Depledge CBE
Emeritus Professor of Environment and Human Health at the University of Exeter Medical School; Honorary Professor of Public Policy at University College, London; Visiting Professor at Chiba University Medical School, Tokyo, Japan
PhD (Lond), DSc (Lond), FRSB, FRCP.
Michael Depledge is Emeritus Professor of Environment and Human Health at the University of Exeter Medical School, Devon, UK. He was formerly a Commissioner of the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution and Chief Scientific Advisor of the UK Government’s Environment Agency. Depledge has conducted both medical and ecotoxicological research in Europe, Asia, South and Central America, Australia and New Zealand resulting in more than 400 publications in the peer reviewed international literature. His work has addressed diverse topics within the sphere of environment and human health, ranging from oceans and human health, to the detection of chemical pollution and its effects, climate change impacts, pharmaceuticals in the environment as well as pioneering studies on the use of natural environments to foster improvements in human health and wellbeing. Depledge is an advisor on environment and health issues to various governments, the World Health Organisation, the United Nations Environment Programme, the European Environment Agency as well as many other organisations. He is currently a non-executive Director of Eden International and Chief Scientific Advisor of the Eden Project (www.edenproject.com). He is also a member of the Advisory Board for the Mediterranean Institute for Environmental Transition, University of Aix Marseille, France. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) by Queen Elizabeth II in 2017 for services to environment and human health science.
Dr Timothy Bouley
CEO and co-founder of BioFeyn Inc
Timothy is the CEO and co-founder of BioFeyn Inc, a new biotechnology company optimizing marine nutrients to improve the health and sustainability of aquaculture. He previously founded and led the climate change and health program at the World Bank, as well as programs on One Health, oceans, and infectious disease. Trained as a medical doctor and environmental scientist, he has also worked at the US National Academy of Sciences, the World Health Organization, and the University of California, San Francisco. He holds degrees in biology, bioethics, geography, and medicine from Tufts, Harvard, Oxford, and Duke.
Dr Tom Dawson
Concept Founder of Revolution-ZERO
Tom Dawson (@drtomdw) is the concept founder of Revolution-ZERO, a net zero, circular economy focused PPE solution. He has over 25 years of life and physical sciences experience delivering solutions for government, industry and third sector organisations. He holds a doctorate in physiology, anatomy and genetics (University of Oxford); degrees in medicine (Otago) and biochemistry (Otago); and multiple post-graduate qualifications.
Tom has held technical, management and leadership roles in industry and academia. He has published papers, patents and presented internationally in the areas of information technology implementation, machine learning, human performance and genetics, molecular biology, and the autonomic nervous system. He has ongoing professional collaborations with multiple UK and international universities.
Chief Sustainability Officer of the NHS
MBBS, MA, BSc Public Health (Hons), MFPH
Dr Watts is the Chief Sustainability Officer of the NHS, responsible for its commitment to deliver a world-class net zero emission health service. Based in London, he leads the Greener NHS team across the country, which focuses on improving the health of patients and the public through a robust and accelerated response to climate change and the broader sustainability agenda.
Nick is a medical doctor licensed in Australia and the UK, and has trained in population health and public policy. He is a Member by Distinction of the Royal College of Physicians’ Faculty of Public Health, and an Honorary Associate Professor of University College London’s Institute for Global Health.
Prior to the National Health Service, Nick worked internationally as the Executive Director of the Lancet Countdown and the Lancet Commission on Health and Climate Change, a collaboration of UN agencies and academic centres across the world. He has also focused on engaging the health profession on the links between public health and climate change, having founded both the Global Climate and Health Alliance and the UK Health Alliance on Climate Change.
Prof Nicola Beaumont
Head of Science - Sea and Society, Plymouth Marine Laboratory
Professor Nicola Beaumont leads the Sea and Society team at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory and is an internationally established expert in the assessment and valuation of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Her research spans scales from local to global, and a variety of environmental challenges, including: renewable energy, plastics, flood and erosion management, climate change, and marine planning and policy. She has extensive people and project management experience, with a particular focus on interdisciplinary and multi-institute collaborative projects. Nicola has a sustained publication record and her research has evidenced impact in the policy sphere, including underpinning the designation of marine conservation zones and shaping government policy such as the Marine Bill and the Natural Environment White Paper. Nicola is skilled in research communication including working with academics, policy makers, managers and varied research user groups. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) is of paramount importance to Nicola and she is experienced in the development and implementation of EDI strategies. Nicola sits on several international and national committees, including the NERC Science Committee and UK Productive Seas Evidence Group (PSEG) reporting directly to UK government.
Dr Easkey Britton
Marine social scientist, expert on ocean therapies, world-renowned surfer and author of Saltwater in the Blood
Dr Easkey Britton is a blue health researcher for the INCLUSEA project, a European consortium dedicated to the creation and development of an innovative methodology for adapted surf instruction. Her work explores the relationship between people and the sea, using her passion for the ocean to create social change and connection across cultures, including introducing the sport of surfing with women in Iran. She facilitates leadership programmes specialising in experiential learning, nature connection and community engagement and is the author of 50 Things to Do By the Sea and Saltwater in the Blood.
Dr Lewis Elliott
Lecturer in Environment and Public Health, University of Exeter
Lewis is a lecturer in environment and public health at the European Centre for Environment and Human Health, University of Exeter Medical School. After undertaking bachelor’s and master’s degrees in psychology, his PhD focused on how to change nature-based recreation behaviour, particularly for physically inactive populations. He then spent four years working on the Horizon 2020 BlueHealth project looking at the relationships between blue spaces in Europe and public health and wellbeing. His current research spans environmental and health psychology, and environmental epidemiology and is particularly concerned with residential access to, and recreational contact with, natural environments and their impacts on health and health inequalities. He maintains an active interest in cognitive and social psychological processes with regards to nature, biodiversity, and health, and also how nature is experienced by people with severe mental illness.
Nicki Dill
Chair of Barema and Managing Director of Qualitech Healthcare Limited
Having been proud to serve on Barema Council for over 14 years, I currently serve as Chair, representing Barema on the Association of Anaesthetists Safety Committee, Chair of the Life Science Industry Registration Council and Vice Chair of ABHI Respiratory and Anaesthetics Group.
Barema is keen to promote sustainability and work to reduce the impact on the environment, which in turn, may affect health, wellbeing and economies both now and in the future. To this end, Barema has formed a Special Interest Group (SIG) which will facilitate close collaboration with the NHS, Association of Anaesthetists, member companies and other professional organisations. This complements our representation on the Association of Anaesthetists’ Environmental and Sustainability Committee and supports the “Barema and Association of Anaesthetists Environmental Award”.
As Managing Director of Qualitech Healthcare Limited, I also work in close partnership with the NHS, including the Academic Health Science Networks, and with numerous professional bodies and organisations. In 2008, I was awarded the AAGBI “Langton Hewer Award to Industry”, in 2018, the Difficult Airway Society “Contribution to Airway Management Award” and have had four articles published in The Journal of Anaesthesia and Anaesthesia News, Safety Edition. I have been collaborating in the following COVID-19 pandemic projects: UK Ventilator Challenge, Respiratory NIV and CPAP plus Accessories Working Group (MHRA), Decontamination of Ventilators, Iron Lung and COVID-19 Impact on Innovation and Research.
I fully the support the vision of NHS Ocean and am committed to highlighting the impacts of the healthcare sector on both the ocean and human health.
