Rhys Roberts has worked in community nursing in the Cynon Valley for 14 years, supporting patients in their own homes to manage a variety of health issues and later managing teams of community staff to deliver great care. He loves his job, but when he started noticing how many disposable gloves were being used unnecessarily, he wondered how much this waste was costing the NHS. He was shocked to learn that NHS Wales spends over £40m a year on disposable gloves.

In response, Rhys teamed up with the Bevan Commission, Wales’ leading health and care think tank, to spreading the word about waste reduction in the NHS. He is now delivering training sessions across Wales using an innovative new toolkit produced with the Bevan Commission, and many colleagues are joining the movement, reducing waste to save the NHS money, look after the environment, and improve patient experience.

Rhys said:

“It’s time healthcare professionals began asking if they really need to use so many disposable plastics. It’s amazing to see just how many resources are saved by making small changes.”

Carolyn Thomas, project lead at the Bevan Commission said:

“In order to reduce waste in health and care we need to be listening to more people like Rhys who can see the waste and want to do something about it. Plastics are just the tip of the iceberg, we are also seeing huge amounts of waste in time, energy and other materials that go to landfill. What could we do with the money that is wasted on these things?”