Dental team claims national title for reducing waste to help environment

A Neath Port Talbot dental practice has received national recognition for its dedication to becoming more sustainable.

GCG Dental Practice in Gwaun-Cae-Gurwen had already achieved a gold award as part of the Greener Primary Care Wales Framework and Award Scheme.

Introduced by Public Health Wales, the scheme is made up of clinical and non-clinical actions that primary care staff can implement within their practices to become more environmentally friendly.

As more actions are implemented, the practices can achieve bronze, silver and gold awards.

Pictured: GCG Dental Practice staff with Swansea Bay ED consultant and Sustainable Clinical Lead Sue West-Jones (far left), and Acting Assistant Director of Planning & Partnerships Commissioning and Sustainability Hannah Roan and Sustainability Planning Manager Hayley Beharrell (both far right).

Now, the dental practice has been named the winner of the Greener Primary Care category at the NHS Wales Sustainability Awards, held at Swansea Arena in June.

Staff were awarded for a waste reduction quality improvement project they implemented as part of the scheme.

The team initially ran a data collection exercise to measure how much clinical waste was produced each week, with an aim to reduce it by 10 per cent within six months.

They were presented with their award, which was partially made using recovered plastics from clinical waste as part of a project undertaken by Natural UK and Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board.

Yvette Powe, dentist at GCG Dental Practice and dental lead for Cwmtawe and Upper Valleys Local Cluster Collaboratives, said: “We decided to focus our project on waste as it is something the whole dental team contributes to in and out of surgery, so it would create a team approach.

“We discovered we were producing 20kg of clinical waste per week, which we aimed to reduce to 18kg within six months.

“We also reviewed the contents of some clinical waste bags and discovered they mainly consisted of gloves, swabs and treatment waste, such as patient bibs, which we expected.

“But we also found lots of patient cups and paper towels which helped us realise we were inappropriately producing clinical waste and could change this.

“By reducing the amount of clinical waste we produced, we are reducing the amount of waste incineration at landfill and carbon dioxide emissions.”

While reviewing the contents of clinical waste bags, staff also found that more than 400 sterilisation pouches, used to sterilise mirrors and probes, were being disposed of each week.

Instead, staff introduced storage containers for the mirrors and probes to help reduce the number of sterilisation pouches needed, while still adhering to cleaning protocols.

Another step the practice took was to contact the manufacturer of the sterilisation pouches, who advised if separated, they could be recycled.

Now, rather than continuing to put them in the general waste, staff are able to recycle the paper and soft plastic packaging.

To help further improve waste disposal, the team also introduced non-clinical waste bags into the surgery to ensure items were being disposed of correctly.

Pictured: Staff were presented with their award by Public Health Wales staff including consultant in Public Health, primary care division, Sian Evans (left), project support officer Rebecca Williams Howells and senior public health practitioner, primary care division, Angharad Wooldridge (both right).

“We also found around 250 plastic cups were being disposed of a week,” Yvette added.

“As a result, we introduced reusable stainless steel cups. We had to readjust the spittoons, which patients use to rinse their mouths, so the water could be dispensed into the new cups.

“It was a very successful implementation and a visible change for the patients, which received a lot of positive feedback.

“This change could also help us to save costs long-term by reducing the need for us to order plastic cups, which also reduces the number of deliveries and packaging.”

As a result of the team’s work, within six months they were able to reduce the number of clinical waste bags per week from five to four – a reduction of 20 per cent.

Over the following two years, this reduced again and the practice now consistently produces just two bags of clinical waste a week, weighing around 8kg compared to the five bags which weighed 20kg – a 40 per cent reduction.

Yvette said: “The results have been very positive and the changes we made have been fully incorporated into our daily practice.

“We have successfully reduced our clinical waste disposal, incineration and landfill contributions.

“We initially set out to reduce our clinical waste by 10 per cent over six months, but with the project now running for over 30 months, we have implemented more changes resulting in a 40 per cent reduction in clinical waste.

“We have been able to reduce our clinical waste disposal contract, which resulted in an annual saving of £800. We have also made an annual saving of more than £4,000 by reducing disposable items, such as plastic cups and plastic suction tips.

“We are very proud of what we have achieved through this project. The team’s attitude and approach to sustainability has been one of the biggest successes, as the whole team really engaged.

“As a team we are fully committed to making lasting change, which is shared with our patients.”

Sam Page, Head of Primary Care in Swansea Bay, said: “Congratulations to the GCG Dental Practice team on their national recognition which is well deserved.

“Their ongoing commitment to sustainability in dental care sets an excellent example for primary care and reflects the dedication and innovation of the practice team.”