Double award win for Swansea Bay as litter picking projects sweeps to victory

A litter-picking project involving patients at a mental health hospital in Swansea has cleaned up at the NHS Wales Sustainability Awards.

The Gwelfor occupational therapy team in Cefn Coed Hospital was the winner of the Resilient Wales Award category.

This was for its project to promote patients’ well-being by taking them into green spaces, allowing them to get active and connect with others.

The team, which is based in a high relational support rehabilitation unit that provides mental health care to men, also uses the scheme to educate patients of the importance of caring for the environment.

The annual awards are held promote the principles of sustainable healthcare within Wales and are presented to winners across the country’s seven health boards. 

The litter-picking project was just one success for Swansea Bay University Health Board. A wound management app also scooped a top prize, and two other initiatives were named runners-up.

Mal Mainwaring, occupational therapy technical instructor at Cefn Coed, said: “We wanted to get the patients out into natural environments and give them the opportunity to give something back to the community.”

The project sees the group link up with the Environment Centre Swansea and join them on their fortnightly litter-picks. The occupational therapy team also takes patients to various green spaces and beaches around Swansea to pick up litter.

Judges concluded it was a “great, simple, effective project that has both patient and environmental benefits that could be scaled up across other patient groups within the NHS.”

Occupational therapist Annie Hill said: “People with mental health issues can often be marginalised in society. The litter picking group provides the opportunity for patients on the unit to engage in a therapeutic activity outside of the hospital environment and to develop new social networks.

“There is significant evidence that spending time in green spaces improves mental health for both the patient group and the accompanying staff. By collaborating with the local community environment centre, there is the opportunity for patients to continue to engage in this meaningful occupation independently in the longer term.

“It also encourages patients to sustain longer term environmental action.

“Many of the patients on the unit have limited engagement in physical activity, as well as comorbid conditions. The gentle exercise involved within a litter pick has positive secondary physical health outcomes.

“Furthermore, evidence indicates that when patients are regularly engaged in meaningful activity, their recovery outcomes are improved, resulting in a reduced number of days in hospital, which has a positive financial impact.

“The occupational therapy service within Swansea Bay is currently working hard to embed sustainable practice within our service, recognising the pivotal role allied health professionals can have driving forward the principles of sustainable healthcare.

“We recognise the urgency of action needed to address the climate emergency and the importance of our role in integrating sustainable practice into our everyday work. This project highlights how a simple idea can have a wide impact.”

Catherine Roberts, lead occupational therapist for adult rehabilitation and forensic mental health services added: “I am so proud of the occupational therapy team on Gwelfor for their hard work and commitment to the patients within our services, whilst also being able to work towards the goals of the NHS Climate Policy in Wales. Well done team.”

Swansea Bay’s other award was for the wound management app Minuteful for Wound. Judges described it as “an excellent submission that could be a significant step change in the provision of wound care and management in Wales”.

The app was developed by Healthy IO and piloted within five teams in district nursing before being rolled out across the service.

It enables staff to monitor and assess chronic wounds remotely, freeing them from travelling to homes and clinics. It has saved an estimated 2,083 hours per year of staff travelling time, and more than £11,000 in travel expenses.

It also reduces the administrative demands and use of paper patient notes, saving 447,120 sheets of paper per year.

Senior professional nurse advocate in district nursing Catrin Codd said: “Staff can view real-time images of the wound with the patient, encouraging patient compliance and making them feel more involved in their care.

“They are motivated to improve their overall health to aid healing of the wound and embrace their treatment plan.

“We have been talking to interested health boards across Wales and presenting our findings in all Wales groups such as the All Wales TVN Forum and All Wales District Nursing Forum.

“The value of having this app available across services in health boards and indeed Wales would be a massive step forward in collaborative working and seamless patient care.”

The health board’s runners up were a pilot inhaler recycling scheme, and work to increase the number of people able to deliver health care in Welsh. 

Main Picture: OT Laura Offer, OT Team Lead Annie Hill, and OT Freya Jones

Second picture: Catrin Codd, Queen's Nursing Institute Fellow Paul Labourne who presented the award, and host journalist and presenter Andrea Byrne