title: Reducing waste in the NHS: an overview of the literature and challenges for the nursing profession.
abstract: Waste in the NHS is estimated to account for 20% of health expenditure. This article examines the literature on reducing waste, analyses some approaches to waste reduction, and identifies the role that nurses and other health professionals can play in developing a sustainable NHS. For the purposes of the article, and to inform nursing practice, the definition of, and discussion about, waste is broader than that outlined by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) controlled waste regulations, and the Royal College of Nursing classification. It includes clinical waste, waste arising out of clinical practice, service delivery and care, infrastructure, and carbon emissions.
authors.affiliation: NHS England.
authors.forename: Virginia
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Minogue
authors.affiliation: Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust.
authors.forename: Bill
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wells
mesh_terms: D017046:Cost Savings / Q000379:methods*; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D024802:Nurse's Role; D009732:Nursing Care / Q000379:methods*; D013222:State Medicine / Q000191:economics*; D006113:United Kingdom
keywords: categories of waste; high value care; nursing practice; partnership working; reducing waste; waste management