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News | 31 October 2024
An innovative approach to patient care is helping people with chronic venous leg ulcers to manage their debilitating condition and their mental wellbeing, as well as alleviating pressure on the NHS.
The Allied Clinical Health Hub (ACHH) at Cardiff Metropolitan University’s Llandaff University opened in January 2024, delivering both NHS and private healthcare services. Students across Dietetics, Podiatry, Speech and Language Therapy, Healthcare Science, Clinical Psychology and Dental Technology work actively together to organise and deliver care for patients, supported by practice supervisors.
On Wednesdays, the ACHH hosts the ‘ANCLE’ (Allied Health and Nursing Collaborative Leg Engagement) Café for patients with chronic venous leg ulcers – a condition that can lead to loneliness and isolation. Chronic venous leg ulcers can be debilitating and, due to their appearance, patients suffering from the condition can become reluctant to engage with their communities, and often do not leave the home.
Chronic venous leg ulcers are expensive to manage and are very difficult to heal. They put huge financial pressure on the NHS and represent 6% of the total NHS spend in Wales. The ANCLE Café provides a friendly accessible space that enables patients and their caregivers to come together with other individuals who share their challenges, make connections, receive treatment, and take part in mood-boosting activities.
During the ANCLE Café, patients and their caregivers can take part in student-led activities in between receiving treatment from community and district nurses from Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. Treatment takes place in private NHS standard treatment rooms.
Activities so far have included complementary health students offering aromatherapy hand massages, breathing and self-management techniques with a Cardiff Met clinical psychologist, a book club, foot health advice with podiatry students, healthy eating with dietetics students, and this week’s Halloween special – pumpkin carving.
People from right across the University run these activities, from health psychologists to staff in the Health and Safety team. There’s plenty more planned too, with Cardiff Met’s School of Art and Design planning sessions for the patients.
Dr Jo Fawcett, ACHH Lead at Cardiff Met, said: “After only five weeks of coming to the ANCLE Café, we have had patients and their caregivers, telling us they can’t believe the improvement in both their condition and their wellbeing. It’s also a brilliant way for Cardiff Met staff and students to connect with our community and improve health outcomes.”
Other facilities in the ACHH include a day case operating theatre; a full suite of podiatry clinics; NHS-standard consultation rooms for dietetics, psychology and dental technology patients; simulated pathology labs and inpatient/outpatient areas; a simulation suite with a training kitchen; a virtual reality suite, and a speech and language therapy clinician area.
The multi-disciplinary hub aims to improve the patient experience by reducing waiting times between referrals to other health teams and creating a seamless journey from team to team, while also alleviating pressure on local health boards.
Mohamed Ismail, 77, from Cardiff has been attending the ANCLE Café for three weeks having suffered with a wound on his foot. Mohamed noted how he and his wife, who attends the session with him, also enjoy the social aspect and they have been impressed at the speed of his recovery.
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Mohamed said: “I had a swelling on my foot which ended up becoming a blister on my ankles, these burst and caused me a great deal of pain. I then spent five weeks in hospital. After being discharged from hospital, I started to see the district nurse who would come and check my dressing, along with the physiotherapist. I was made aware of these sessions from the district nurse and wanted to come along.
“The cafe is really helping improve my wound and every week when I come back they change my treatment to improve my wound very quickly. It is also great because everyone we need to see is in one place when we come to the café, the full team are here.”
Vicky Hayman-Teear, Senior Nurse, Vale locality, at the Cardiff and Vale University Health Board, said: “Even though we are only six weeks into opening the ANCLE Café, we have already seen first-hand how clinical patient recovery has improved, but also how the social aspect has really taken off.
“We find in community nursing that we have a huge cohort of patients who are very socially isolated and that manifests in lots of different ways - resulting in demands on the NHS to increase. The benefit of coming into a social environment where patients are also able to have a clinical assessment is massive. When patients do eventually make a full recovery, they are also still welcome to come back to the sessions and continue the social aspect.
“The café has also really benefited patient family members, allowing them to either join in and speak with other family members in a similar situation, or just go off and have some time to themselves without having to worry.
“In terms of the clinical progression of patient wounds – this has been significant. Patients get to see the same clinicians each week, they know they don’t have to retell their story to someone new, and they know they will progress – as a result, this provides the patient with peace of mind but also means we are seeing huge improvements with recovery.”
