UHNM Charity-funded reusable water bottles help to reduce single-use plastic waste at Royal Stoke’s Cancer Centre

UHNM Charity is helping to reduce both patient waiting times and the use of single-use plastic cups at the Royal Stoke University Hospital’s Cancer Centre.

Patients attending Therapeutic Radiography appointments will now be provided with one of 500 reusable water bottles thanks to UHNM Charity’s supporters.

The bottles help to encourage patients to arrive to their appointments with a full bladder, helping to ensure they are seen by a Radiographer on time.

Keren Barker, Urology Advanced Practitioner in Radiotherapy said: “A large cohort of patients are required to have a full bladder to reduce the radiation damage to organs at risk around the area we’re treating. Having a full bladder helps to push organs away from the treatment area which reduces potential side effects on them.

“Prior to the bottles, we would ask patients to drink 500ml of water, or three plastic cups, before they begin their treatment. We treat hundreds of patients each year, and if they’re each drinking three cups every visit, that’s a lot of waste.

“Not all patients understand the concept of how much water to drink too. If their bladder isn’t full, they would have to wait longer which has a knock-on effect on patient lists. So, these new bottles are helping to reduce the amount of single-use plastics we get through and also improve patient experience.”

The bottles also feature QR codes with links to further patient information.

Keren said: “The bottles have gone down well. We’ve seen lots of patients walking around with them, so hopefully they’re something they’ll continue to re-use. We’d like to say a big thank you to UHNM Charity’s supporters for helping to improve the patient pathway and experience.”