This resource shares a set of slides developed Peter Lillie (NHS North East and North Cumbria ICB Sustainability Lead), presenting practical case studies from across the region. The slides are designed to support system leaders, executive teams and improvement leads to explore how sustainability initiatives can be delivered at pace, with clear benefits for services and populations.

What the Sustainability Opportunity Model shows

The slides highlight how well‑designed sustainability initiatives can deliver a ‘triple lock’ of benefits:

• Better patient care and service quality
• Financial efficiency and cashable savings that can be reinvested locally
• Reduced environmental impact and carbon footprint

They also demonstrate how a structured approach can reduce delivery risk, minimise internal burden, and provide clear evidence for boards, regulators and NHS England.

Case studies from across the system

The slides include ten practical case studies from across acute, community, primary care and system settings. These examples show how sustainability can be embedded into everyday operational and clinical decisions, rather than treated as a standalone agenda.

Highlighted themes include:

• Energy efficiency and estates – such as large‑scale LED lighting programmes and investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure
• Reducing waste and unnecessary activity – including reuse of clinical equipment, improved waste segregation, and reduction of single‑use items
• Clinical pathway and process improvement – where sustainability‑focused quality improvement has reduced unnecessary investigations, workload and waste
• Food, travel and workforce wellbeing – demonstrating how changes to menus, parking and active travel can improve patient and staff experience while lowering environmental impact

Each case study sets out the problem, what was done, who was involved and the resulting impact, making it easier for others to consider how similar approaches could be applied locally.

Using the slides

These slides are intended as a discussion and learning resource, supporting:

• executive and board‑level conversations
• place‑based and system improvement work
• sustainability, estates and finance planning
• quality improvement and service redesign

They can be used to spark ideas, build the case for change, and support informed decision‑making using real examples.

A practical, care‑focused approach

The Sustainability Opportunity Model reinforces that sustainability is not an “add‑on”. When designed well, it supports better care, better use of resources and better outcomes for patients, staff and communities.

The slides encourage teams to focus on opportunities that are realistic, scalable and aligned with local priorities, helping sustainability become part of how improvement is delivered across the system.