Gloves Off campaign wins NHS Wales Sustainability Award

The team driving a campaign to eliminate unnecessary glove use across Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and beyond has received national recognition. On Friday 20 June, members of the Critical Care and Shaping Change teams received an NHS Wales Sustainability Award at a ceremony held at the Swansea Arena.

Led by the Critical Care team at University Hospital Wales and supported by the Shaping Change team, the campaign encourages staff to be more deliberate about their use of disposable plastic gloves - wearing them only when the risk requires it.

The campaign received the ‘Spread and Scale Award’ which celebrates the project most suitable for adoption across Wales. It was presented to Hayley Valentine, Quality and Safety Nursing Lead and Chloe Barnes, Practice Educator both from the Critical Care team along with Chloe Chettleburgh, Content Designer and Kate Blower, Service Improvement Manager from the Shaping Change team.

Hayley, a key member of the Green ICU team, said: “We’re absolutely thrilled and proud to receive this award! It’s such a wonderful recognition of the amazing work the Critical Care team is doing with the Gloves Off campaign. This award truly reflects the thoughtful changes every single team member is making to help our planet, patients, and each other even in the middle of a busy and challenging clinical environment.

“We hope that by sharing the success of this project, more teams will feel inspired to join in and make positive changes, just like the incredible staff in Critical Care are doing every day. We couldn’t be happier or prouder!”

The use of PPE by health professionals increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and resulted in a habit of over-reliance on gloves. The Gloves Off campaign emphasises the importance of good hand hygiene, the value of physical touch in patient care, the savings in plastic waste and expenditure.

The team is on track to achieve their goal of reducing glove expenditure by 10%. In 2025, the Critical Care team expects to cut their usage by 19,200 gloves, saving £9,000 and preventing 83kg of plastic waste. They have already saved £4,803 and are projected to exceed their target. Their current carbon reduction of 4,056kg CO2e is equivalent to flying from Cardiff to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

 

The campaign’s momentum increased after the team attended the Climate Emergency Spread and Scale Academy in November 2024, helping them secure funding to create and distribute campaign materials to all health boards in Wales.

Based on their learning and research, Shaping Change created a comprehensive toolkit to support other departments and health boards to implement this change in behaviour. This includes:

  • Tools to measure baseline glove use and expenditure

  • An audit to assess staff confidence in choosing when to use gloves

  • Clear guidelines for using gloves safely

  • Posters to display throughout clinical areas, in particular near glove dispensers

Chloe Chettleburgh from Shaping Change said: “Winning this award alongside the Critical Care team fills us with immense pride. As members of Shaping Change at Cardiff and Vale, this project represents a significant achievement, recognised for leading sustainable change across Wales. We are thrilled to see other Health Boards adopt our approach and resources to drive further transformation.”

Cardiff and Vale UHB’s Environmental Sustainability Improvement Manager, Arjun Padmavathy added: "The Gloves Off campaign is an excellent example of a project that reduces carbon emissions, saves money, and enhances resource utilisation in the clinical setting without compromising patient safety and quality. It has the potential to be spread and scaled across all areas of the health board. I kindly encourage everyone to get in touch with the team and use their 'How to do' tool to initiate the Gloves Off campaign in your own service area."

The NHS Wales Sustainability Awards celebrates those working together to reduce the environmental impact of healthcare, deliver more sustainable practices and contribute to decarbonisation targets.

In addition to the Gloves Off campaign, nine other Cardiff and Vale UHB projects were shortlisted for awards including:

  • Training Student Nurses for a Sustainable General Practice Workforce in Cardiff and Vale

  • Embedding Sustainability Across Wales’ Sole Dental Hospital and School: A Narrative for Change

  • The Cardiff and Vale Local Public Health's Community Smoking Cessation Team

https://cavuhb.nhs.wales/news/latest-news/gloves-off-campaign-wins-nhs-wales-sustainability-award/

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