Ways to Wellness rewarded for its ‘Partnership Working’ at the Newcastle Hospitals Celebrating Excellence Awards
The TAPER2 team were honoured to receive the Partnership Working award at the recent Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust’s annual Celebrating Excellence Awards, in recognition of their collaborative approach to helping people ‘wait well’ for surgery through opioid deprescribing and social prescribing.
The project was part of the North East’s Waiting Well programme, which aimed to support people on NHS surgical waiting lists across the region. Evidence showed health inequalities could exacerbate people’s symptoms and lead to longer recovery times following surgery.
The North East has some of the starkest health inequalities in the country, and the programme provided people with support around fitness, weight management, and mental health, demonstrating that this could significantly improve outcomes after surgery.
Collaboratively working to Wait Well
TAPER2 brought together healthcare professionals and social prescribers, including the Ways to Wellness PROSPeR (Perioperative Social Prescribing) team and the Deep End Network of GP practices, to support opioid deprescribing and help patients manage their symptoms through non-pharmacological means.
90 people accepted deprescribing support
46 also received social prescribing support through Ways to Wellness
Medicines included codeine, morphine, tramadol, and gabapentin
The results from TAPER2 showed a 64% overall reduction in analgesic prescriptions, and 74% of patients supported by Ways to Wellness reduced their opioids by more than 50%.
“My link worker takes the time to listen to me, which I find very valuable. It is nice to have someone who understands my situation and can help with the little things, as well as making me feel valued.” (TAPER2 patient)
Patients didn’t just reduce their opioid use. Ways to Wellness used the Triangle’s Wellbeing Star to measure outcomes, and many participants showed significant improvements in areas such as symptom management and emotional wellbeing.
By combining clinical expertise with a person-centred, holistic approach, the programme achieved:
Positive impacts on patient health and recovery after surgery
Fewer additional treatments (e.g. for managing side effects)
Reduced healthcare costs
Partnership in action
The TAPER2 project shows how collaboration between Primary and Secondary care, community organisations, and VCSE partners can deliver tangible improvements for patients and the wider health system.
“We’re delighted that Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has recognised the powerful impact of collaboration in addressing health inequalities,” said Thomas Lovedawn, Team Lead for PROSPeR, Ways to Wellness.
“By providing holistic care alongside medical interventions we can begin to tackle health inequalities in the communities that need it most.”
Building on this success, the project is being tested in different communities across the North East.
We’d like to thank the team: James Prentis: Consultant Anaesthetist/Waiting Well Lead, Nicole Madden: Strategic Manager Deep End Network, Angela Telford: Inpatient Pain Nurse Specialist, Rachel Vincent: Senior Clinical Pharmacist, Integrated Care, Thomas Lovedawn: Ways to Wellness Specialist Link Worker, Kiran Singh: Ways to Wellness, Specialist Link Worker, Ang Broadbridge: Head of Implementation, Ways to Wellness.
