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Now that the much-feared medical finals are out the way, done and dusted, I have an opportunity to venture into pastures new and spend some time in the form of a Special Studies Module discovering what Sustainable Healthcare is all about. I seem to have timed my SSM just right (there’s a first time for everything!) to take in Climate Week! Whittington Hospital is marking the occasion with a Green Wards Competition, and I popped in to check out progress.

Our conference organized in partnership with The Thames Valley Health Innovation and Education Cluster is taking place on 24th February 2012. The day offers a great opportunity to find out about the most recent developments in sustainable healthcare including a launch of the emergent research agenda from The King's Fund. Experts will outline the major issues before looking in depth at some of the available solutions including how to cut medicines waste, benefits of greenspace, patient and staff engagement and active transport.

As I sat in the enormous main hall of BMA house yesterday at the BMJ’s conference ‘Health and Security perspectives on Climate Change’,  on Monday, Thailand was beginning to come to terms with the worst floods in several decades, with at least 315 dead and the finance minister predicting 1-1.7% of Thai growth lost and a cost of $3.3bn in reconstruction.