The sustainable care pathways knowledge hub
The Care Pathways Knowledge Hub is a centralised, collaborative platform serving as a meeting point for public health systems and global industry, providing the shared language and evidence base needed to measure, understand, and reduce the environmental impact of patient care journeys.
What does the hub offer
The hub equips healthcare planners, clinicians and industry leaders with actionable tools and insights to drive sustainable decision-making. Through this platform, you can access:
- practical frameworks and tools: including our care pathway calculator and step-by-step guidance
- evidence and application: real-world case studies, implementation guides and the latest publications
- shared learning: video explainers and curated resources to help you assess carbon hotspots and model sustainable interventions for both local and global systems
Who owns it?
The hub is proudly owned and curated by the Sustainable Healthcare Coalition, a non-profit organisation dedicated to inspiring and equipping the healthcare sector to transition to sustainable practices. The hub’s ongoing development and rich resource pool is made possible by our Patient Care Pathway (PCP) members.
Join the conversation
Sustainability is a collaborative effort. Connect with global peers, share your own findings, and ask questions by joining our active community of practice – a space to learn from others working on the same challenges and to help shape the conversation as the field develops.
The care pathway approach
A care pathway traces the full journey a patient takes through the healthcare system for a specific condition, from referral through to discharge or long-term management. Every stage involves resources – clinical time, medicines, devices, travel, energy – and a care pathway assessment maps these systematically to show where emissions arise and where change would have the greatest effect.
Healthcare causes around 4-5% of global carbon emissions, much of it from the care we deliver rather than buildings or logistics. Care pathway assessment looks at the system impact of decisions made in healthcare design and delivery, rather than individual products or facilities in isolation, while ensuring patient safety and effective care remain paramount. SHC’s care pathway assessment framework offers a structured, repeatable approach from defining the pathway through to interpreting findings and taking action.
The patient care pathway consortium
Over a decade ago, SHC set out to embed environmental sustainability into how healthcare value is understood across the entire patient journey. Working with NHS England, we developed the foundational methodology that underpins care pathway assessment.
That work has grown into the Patient Care Pathway (PCP) Consortium – a pre-competitive initiative bringing together leading pharmaceutical, medtech, and health insurance organisations to advance the evidence base for sustainable care. Working alongside NHS health system partners, our Consortium members contribute data, case studies, and expertise to shared projects. Their findings are made openly available to the wider healthcare community.
If you would like to learn more, please visit our PCP Consortium page.
Care Pathways Resources Library
Explore our resource library of care pathway materials - including case studies, video explainers and publications from SHC and our PCP Consortium members.
Get involved
Whether you want to connect with peers, start your own assessment, or share feedback on how to improve the hub, here’s where to go next.
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