Busy service helps patients and the planet by changing its sustainable approach

A Morriston Hospital service is making strides in becoming more sustainable in terms of treatment, time and travel.

The Jill Rowe Neurology Ambulatory Unit is a treatment and day procedure unit for people with a range of different neurological disorders.

It carries out investigations such as lumbar punctures, cognitive assessments, plasma exchange as well as treatments including infusions and injections.

The unit covers the population across the whole of south and mid Wales, which means patients can travel long distances to receive their treatment. The service also looks after patients that are on home therapies.

PICTURED: Alexandra Strong is the manager of the Jill Rowe Neurology Ambulatory Unit in Morriston Hospital.

Medications given in neurology can also be costly, while certain procedures can lead to a two-week stay in hospital.

However, the unit has looked at tackling those issues by reviewing its sustainable approaches.

The changes have been led in part by Alexandra Strong, manager of the Jill Rowe Neurology Ambulatory Unit, who is one of three staff to be appointed as the health board’s first Sustainable Clinical Leads.

Alexandra said: “Being sustainable within healthcare has its challenges, but we are determined as a health board to address that.

“The medications that we give in neurology can be extremely expensive and come with other requirements such as vaccinations and blood tests and investigations prior to starting and at regular points during treatment.

“But there are constantly new treatments becoming available and we are expanding to be able to offer those services.

“The area our service covers and the treatments that we give require certain things to be onsite, which means patients travel a long way, which is obviously not kind to the environment either as well as the affect travelling can have on a patient’s condition.

“But we have significantly tackled that issue thanks to a new ultrasound assisted lumbar puncture service, which has decreased the amount of return trips for patients to the unit and eased pressure on the Computed Tomography (CT) department. This is because we have not needed to refer as many patients for a CT lumbar puncture, which takes twice as long and needs two departments of staff.

“We’ve also introduced a peripheral plasma exchange which separates blood through a machine over a three to four-hour period, across three to four consecutive days and patients have the treatment in the day and go home each night.

PICTURED: Alexandra and fellow Sustainable Clinical Lead Elana Owen.

“Prior to that, plasma exchange was performed as an inpatient procedure in the renal unit and involved a stay of up to two weeks, so it has really benefited patients in terms of time spent in hospital and their recovery.

“There is also a huge cost saving compared to the immunoglobulin treatments that patients could be having and gives another treatment choice for those that may not respond as well to immunoglobulin treatments.”

Alexandra’s added role as a Sustainable Clinical Lead gives her an opportunity to implement positive changes within her area of expertise and encourage colleagues to explore potential carbon and cost savings without affecting patient care.

Sustainable healthcare has been Alexandra’s passion since she became a registered nurse in 2007.

Alexandra added: “The NHS leaves a massive carbon footprint, so we all need to do our bit and see where we can make changes that benefit the health board and environment.

“We can’t carry on the way we are and we need to find a way to be able to deliver the healthcare that is needed in a way that is sustainable for healthcare and the future and the best for patients.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s a small change – all these changes add up together. We’ve gone paper free for a certain blood test, and that is just an example of a small and simple change that helps us become more sustainable without affecting patient care.

“A big part of my role as a Sustainable Clinical Lead is identifying approaches that we can change and encourage colleagues to look at areas and methods we can change in a sustainable and safe way.”