Many of our colleagues run , walk or cycle to work – we have an excellent secure area to store our bikes while we are at work .”
Sustainability in hand therapy
Linda Cornish outlines the moves therapists within University Hospitals Dorset are making towards a more sustainable practice .
A t University Hospitals Dorset , the hand therapy service is very keen to look at ways we can start thinking of sustainability in our daily practice .
Many of our colleagues run , walk or cycle to work – we have an excellent secure area to store our bikes while we are at work . Our trust has also worked to encourage lift sharing with car drivers . Throughout our trust there are also opportunities to recycle plastics glass and cardboard .
In our therapy services , our records are paperless . Where possible , we encourage the use of hand therapy apps on smart phones ; where this is not accessible , we email exercise therapy / patient information . ORCHA is an excellent NHS applications library offering apps for a range of health conditions .
In addition , within our service thermoplastics products are recycled in partnership with our thermoplastic suppliers . The materials are recycled currently to make soft traction weights , with product development in progress to bring the recycled materials back into hand therapy products .
X-lite is a biodegradable splinting product in use in many hand units and plaster rooms , which will provide hand therapy units with options when needing to consider more robust sustainability plans in future procurement processes .
It is an exciting new world of possibilities with sustainability .
© sturti via Getty Images
Words LINDA CORNISH , Clinical Specialist Hand Therapist , MCSP , University Hospitals Dorset and SARAH BRADLEY , Consultant Hand Therapist , University Hospitals Dorset
Many of our colleagues run , walk or cycle to work – we have an excellent secure area to store our bikes while we are at work .”
As Vice-Chair of the British Association of Hand Therapists , Linda Cornish has invited RCOT to be an exhibitor at its annual conference , to be held on 6-7 October 2023 , with the main theme of sustainability .
Pete Vesey , RCOT Professional Adviser – Environmental Sustainability , will be manning a stand for RCOT along with the Centre for Sustainable Healthcare and Greener NHS . Pete told us : ‘ I am looking forward to chatting with delegates about their experiences of improving the environmental sustainability of hand splinting , as part of our rolling call out for members ’ stories on aids , equipment and adaptations .
‘ I will also be promoting our annual pulse survey on environmental sustainability , which will be live at the time of the conference .’
See also page 8 of this issue , for more on 2023 ’ s Recycle Week .
16 OTnews September 2023