Graduates of the Dragon’s Heart Institute’s Climate Emergency Spread & Scale Academy have taken home a national award for their pioneering work to reduce unnecessary glove use in clinical care.
On Friday 20 June, members of the Critical Care team at University Hospital Wales and the Shaping Change team were awarded the NHS Wales Spread and Scale Sustainability Award at a ceremony at Swansea Arena. The award recognises the project most suitable for adoption across Wales – a key focus of the Spread & Scale Academy.
The Gloves Off campaign, developed and delivered by this collaborative team, tackles the over-reliance on disposable gloves by encouraging staff to use gloves only when clinically necessary. Rooted in behaviour change, the campaign highlights the importance of good hand hygiene, the value of physical touch in care, and the environmental and financial cost of overuse.
Since graduating from the Spread & Scale Academy in November 2024, the team has scaled the campaign across Cardiff and Vale UHB, and is now supporting its adoption nationally. With backing from the Climate Emergency Programme, they created and distributed a comprehensive toolkit to help other health boards replicate their approach.
Tangible Impact
- To date, the Critical Care team has saved £4,803 through reduced glove use.
- Their current carbon savings total more than 4,000kg of CO₂e, which is equivalent to the emissions produced by a return flight from Cardiff to Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
- Thanks to their work since graduating the Academy, a full toolkit and guidance package is now available to support adoption of the Gloves Off campaign in every health board across Wales.
The campaign is already spreading with success throughout Cardiff and Vale UHB, with the Emergency Department also taking great strides in reducing their glove use. A Health Board-wide measurement plan is underway but initial data is promising with just these two departments achieving a cumulative saving of over 3000 boxes of gloves, 1.1 tonnes of plastic entering landfill, 8,500 kg of CO2e in avoided emissions, and £10,000 of financial savings in the first 6 months of 2025 alone!
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.
Learn more about the Spread & Scale Academy here.
