Live recording of afternoon talk. A conversation between two doctors - a Doctor of human ailments and a Doctor of earth elements.

Speakers:

Dr Georgie Kirby, our local GP in Frome Medical Practice.

Dr Louise Farquharson, Research Assistant Professor at University of Alaska Fairbanks.

Step into your local health centre to discover how global systems relate to us, for this special conversation between two doctors.

We will focus on the critical link between the local and the global - how the climate crisis shapes our health, how our environment connects us here and to elsewhere.

Hosted by Sue Palmer (Future Shed Lead, Edventure) and Charlotte Carson (Community Sustainability Lead, Frome Medical Practice), we will explore common threads around human health, water, geological time and identify tangible actions that link health and climate agendas.

Following a unique Climate Action Fund, National Lottery project, this podcast brings

together inspiring community champions, leading health professionals and local experts to

share compelling stories, fresh insights, and even practical tips on how you can live a

healthier and greener life.

In this episode we hear from Frome's Young people climate action group!

Based in Frome, Somerset - every episode dives into engaging themes such as active travel,

self care, the real cost of cheap food and connecting with nature. Discover pioneering local

projects, the passionate people behind them and be inspired to take steps towards

community led climate action.

The show hopes to inspire positive change – both for our own health and for the environment

and be curious about the things we have in common within and across communities.

You can see more about the wider project and the role the podcast plays as part of

movement change here, https://greenhealthyfrome.org/listen/

Up to 90% of the medicines we take end up in our waterways. Our town uses seven million litres of water every day. And there are chemicals in our rivers that no water treatment plant can remove. In this episode, Charlotte and Jez are joined by the practice's Evaluation Lead and two members of Frome Families for the Future to explore the deep connection between how we use water, what we put down our drains, and the health of the River Frome — and us.

This episode also features I Am the River, a community song composed and performed by The Ripple Effect with Heather Truesdall and the Songbirds Choir, written collaboratively with Frome residents from age five to ninety-five.

Guests

Richard Podmore – Evaluation Lead, Frome Medical Practice. Richard covers the pharmaceutical load in our waterways — including the fact that around 30% of all consumed antibiotics eventually enter rivers — and the practice's work to reduce over-prescribing as a direct environmental intervention. He also updates on the Only Order What You Need project, which saved the NHS over £250,000 and reduced prescriptions by 15,000 items in its first year.

Gemma – River Vision Project Co-lead, Frome Families for the Future; Water Space Project Manager, Bath and North East Somerset Council. Gemma co-leads the River Vision project in Frome — working to improve community access to and engagement with the River Frome through events, citizen science, and practical resources. She is also a trained riverfly monitor and sits on the Friends of the River Frome committee.

Lizzie Benning – River Vision Project Co-lead, Frome Families for the Future; Water Space Project Manager, Bath and North East Somerset Council. Lizzie brings an architect's eye to understanding how water shapes our built environment and our stories, and advocates for whole-catchment thinking as the key to lasting river health.

Frome Families for the Future (River Vision project, resources, events): fromefamiliesforthefuture.co.uk I Am the River — download the song on Bandcamp to support the project: search The Ripple Effect on Bandcamp Friends of the River Frome: contact via Frome Families for the Future Frome Beaver Watch — sightings within 10km of Frome: fromebeaverwatch@gmail.com Big River Watch (annual citizen science, Rivers Trust): theriverstrust.org Green & Healthy Frome: greenhealthyfrome.org Frome Medical Practice (repeat prescriptions, NHS app): fromemedicalpractice.co.uk

The home you live in shapes your health more than most people realise. Damp, cold, poor ventilation, and the wrong type of inhaler all have measurable impacts on respiratory health — and on the planet. In this episode, Charlotte is joined by the practice's lead pharmacist, a GP, and Frome Town Council's Healthy Homes advisor to explore the connection between where we live, how we breathe, and what we can do about it.

Guests

John Digman– Lead Pharmacist, Frome Medical Practice. John covers the practice's inhaler switching programme in detail: the old blue Ventolin metered dose inhaler carries a carbon footprint equivalent to driving around 150 miles in a petrol car. The new combined dry powder inhalers — which John and Helen are actively switching suitable patients to — are either carbon neutral or close to it. Somerset ICB is one of the top-performing areas in the country for dry powder prescribing. John's top tip: never put a finished inhaler in your bin — return it to the pharmacy for safe disposal.

Dr Helen Kingston – GP, Frome Medical Practice. Helen has been part of the Green & Healthy Frome project for five years and works alongside John implementing the latest NICE guidance on asthma treatment — moving patients from two separate inhalers to one combined device, which reduces hospitalisations, improves control, and cuts prescriptions. She also monitors the practice's prescribing data against national benchmarks using the Open Prescribing website.

Caroline Wajsblum – Healthy Homes Advisor, Frome Town Council. Caroline runs free energy advice and practical retrofit support for any Frome resident, regardless of income. Her team can help with draught proofing, ventilation, insulation, and connecting people to grant funding through the Centre for Sustainable Energy. One patient she supported accessed around £25,000 of energy upgrades including insulation and an air source heat pump — and their chronic bronchitis improved significantly.

Working with the community has been the foundation of this Climate Action Project, in this podcast hear how inspiring community champions, leading health professionals and local experts bring community together.

Sue Palmer, Julie Carey-Downs and Will Palmer talk from different perspectives and their work in community led health and climate projects.

Based in Frome, Somerset - every episode dives into engaging themes such as active travel,

self care, the real cost of cheap food and connecting with nature. Discover pioneering local

projects, the passionate people behind them and be inspired to take steps towards

community led climate action.

The show hopes to inspire positive change – both for our own health and for the environment

and be curious about the things we have in common within and across communities.

You can see more about the wider project and the role the podcast plays as part of

movement change here, https://greenhealthyfrome.org/listen/

Women's health and planetary health have more in common than you might think — both have been historically sidelined in research, policy and public conversation. In this episode, Charlotte is joined by a GP, a trainee health psychologist, and the founder of a perinatal mental health charity to explore the links between women's health, the environment, and the systems that shape both. Honest, wide-ranging and at times quietly radical.

Guests

Dr Neha Baghi – GP and Partner, Frome Medical Practice. Neha covers the near-total absence of research into how environmental pollutants affect women's biology differently, the role of women's health in community and planetary health, and what she would like to see from a future NHS Women's Health strategy.

Matisse Lack – Trainee Health Psychologist, Frome Medical Practice. Matisse has spent the past year leading women's health quality improvement projects at the practice, including focus groups, improved HRT access, Saturday cervical screening clinics, and the Navigating Menopause programme — a six-week lifestyle course now running as a permanent part of the practice's offer alongside the regular Habits for Health programme.

Suzie Christenance – Founder, Frome Birth Talk. Suzie's perinatal mental health charity provides free and low-cost counselling and four weekly drop-in groups for anyone who is pregnant or has had or lost a baby in the last two years. She speaks candidly about the impossible load placed on mothers and the systemic changes needed to support them.

This podcast brings together Physio Natali Jones and Emma Parker from Frome Community bike project to talk and guide us through the benefits of moving more.

Hear from inspiring community champions, leading health professionals and local experts to

share compelling stories, fresh insights, and even practical tips on how you can live a

healthier and greener life.

The show hopes to inspire positive change – both for our own health and for the environment

and be curious about the things we have in common within and across communities.

Based in Frome, Somerset - every episode dives into engaging themes such as active travel,

self care, the real cost of cheap food and connecting with nature. Discover pioneering local

projects, the passionate people behind them and be inspired to take steps towards

community led climate action.

You can see more about the wider project and the role the podcast plays as part of

movement change here, https://greenhealthyfrome.org/listen/

Medicines account for around a quarter of the NHS carbon footprint. In this episode, Charlotte talks to a GP, a pharmacy technician, and a sustainability lead about three projects underway at Frome Medical Practice that are improving patient care, reducing unnecessary prescribing, and cutting the environmental cost of medication at the same time.

Guests

Dr Georgie Kirby – GP, Frome Medical Practice. Georgie leads the Choosing Wisely project, focusing on long-term pain management and reducing reliance on opiates and gabapentinoids that are no longer in NICE guidelines. She also covers the practice's successful switch from pressurised metered-dose inhalers to dry powder alternatives, reducing the carbon footprint of a single inhaler from the equivalent of a London to Sheffield car journey to roughly four miles.

Laura – Pharmacy Technician, Frome Medical Practice. Laura leads the Only Order What You Need project, which has saved the practice £266,000 and 41,000kg of CO2 in a single year simply by encouraging patients to order repeat prescriptions monthly rather than in bulk. She also runs medication reviews for patients on antidepressants and HRT, supporting those who want to reduce or come off medication with care and proper follow-up.

Dan – Project Sustainability and Variation Lead, Green & Healthy Frome. Dan tracks the environmental data behind the practice's prescribing work, including medication entering waterways, improper disposal, and the carbon cost of pharmaceutical production.