NINE Gwent health projects have been shortlisted for awards which celebrate excellence in care across Wales.

The Aneurin Bevan University Health Board projects, in the running for NHS Wales Awards, cover a broad range of treatment and care and cater for children through to the elderly, comprising the biggest set of shortlisted projects from any of Wales’ seven health boards.

Two projects – Care Home Ask and Talk (CHAaT), a volunteer service in which retired NHS staff provide support to older people in care homes, and the Serennu Children’s Centre – are shortlisted in the Citizens at the Centre of Service Redesign and Delivery category.

Three more are shortlisted in the Developing a Flexible and Sustainable Workforce category. One targets improved care for hip-fracture patients admitted to hospital, another focuses on improved care for patients following shoulder and elbow surgery and a third, in partnership with Velindre Cancer Centre, involves South Wales’ first acute oncology service to improve care of inpatients with cancer.

Work on reducing lengths of stay in community hospitals is a candidate in the Improving Quality Through Better Use of Resources category, along with a project to reduce surgical site infections by improving standard cleaning practices in orthopaedic operating theatres.

Children with physical disabilities have been asked what they want from specialised seating and how this might be improved to better meet their needs, and this work is shortlisted in the Promoting Clinical Research and Application to Practice category.

The streamlining of services for emergency cancer care, in partnership with Velindre Cancer Centre and the South East Wales Cancer Network, is shortlisted in the Working Seamlessly Across Organisations category.

“We are delighted to have been selected as finalists nine times and to have been involved in high quality partnership projects that are making a real difference,” said health board chief executive Dr Andrew Goodall.

“This reflects the dedication of staff to delivering innovative work that is transforming healthcare services for all our patients.”

Winners announced in July.