Embedding Sustainability in Healthcare Starts with Training, Not Statements
By Angela Willis
May 4, 2026
Angie Willis is a midwife, health visitor, and neonatal life support trainer with over 13 years of NHS experience, alongside a thriving online community of more than 180,000 followers.
Angie partners with organisations across healthcare and maternity, providing expert guidance on compliance, including WHO Code Frameworks, as well as sustainability and compassionate leadership.
Through practical, results-driven training, Angie helps businesses build cultures rooted in integrity and resilience. Her work supports organisational trust, improving retention, and helping develop confident and caring leadership.
Sustainability is often positioned as a strategy; contained within annual reports, awareness and PR campaigns, and the underpinning company values. But for organisations operating within healthcare and maternity sectors, the statements committing to sustainability often fall short of visible and tangible action. Alignment to the UN sustainable development goals, and reducing the environmental impact of businesses is not a choice or give a competitive edge. Instead, it is a responsibility to customers of your business, your employees and all future generations in this world.
Large organisations have influence over the health, wellbeing and decision-making of individuals. From infant feeding to maternal recovery, the products, messaging, and practices adopted by organisations shape outcomes in ways which extend beyond the sale.
However, too often, sustainability is approached through a profit-driven and commercial lens – what is visible, what is measurable and what enhances brand perception. While progress in these areas matters, it risks overlooking a deeper obligation to act with integrity, even when no-one is watching.
True sustainability in healthcare is not just environmental; It is ethical. It is about aligning with frameworks such as the UN sustainability development goals, the WHO Code, NHS Net zero and social value guidance; supporting people with informed choice, and ensuring that commercial success does not come at the expense of the planet or the people involved in the process.
This requires a shift from performative action to embedded culture. Leaders must move beyond compliance and ask harder questions: Are our practices responsible? Are we prioritising long-term impact over short-term gain? Is sustainability business as usual throughout the entire organisation? Do we communicate the actions we are taking to both our employees and our customers?
Because in sectors that support families at their most critical moments, sustainability should be more than just words on a page. It should be real action for everyone throughout the entire organisation.