Could building more satellite centres reduce the carbon footprint of external beam radiotherapy?

Climate change is increasingly a health emergency. This has been recognised by the NHS which aims to be carbon net zero by 2040. Most of the carbon footprint of radiotherapy is due to patient travel. Here we investigate if satellite centres can help reduce this impact.

The carbon footprint of construction was estimated using two different methods. The post codes for 49 patients and 21 staff were collected and the distance to the satellite centre and main centre determined. The carbon footprint from each of these aspects was combined to determine how many years it would take for the reduced patient travel to offset the construction of the satellite centre.

The mean carbon footprint of travel to the satellite centre and main centre were 116.0 kgCO₂e and 176.2 kgCO₂e respectively. The carbon footprint of building the satellite centre was between 1103 tCO₂e and 618 tCO₂e, meaning it would take 5.6 – 10.0 years to offset the embedded carbon footprint of the new building.

For the first time this study has estimated the carbon footprint of building a satellite radiotherapy centre and how this, through reducing patient travel can lower the carbon footprint of the service within a decade. This work may help those wishing to sustainably improve service provision.