Prehabilitation programme gets Stella back on her feet
7 May 2025
An innovative digital virtual online prehabilitation programme run by Hywel Dda University Health Board aimed at supporting patients to be mentally and physically prepared for their elective surgery has won two national awards.
The health board’s Virtual Orthopaedic Prehabilitation and Optimisation team won the Maximising Digitalisation Category, of the Welsh Government’s 3Ps health care awards held in Cardiff recently.
They were praised for using digital tools – including online health, fitness and wellbeing sessions - to provide personalised care, helping people waiting for orthopaedic surgery to get ready for their treatment.
The judges were also impressed by how this digital model could be used nationwide, which earned the team the Overall Winner Award.
Someone who has benefitted from this award-winning programme is 80 year-old former teacher and journalist Stella Nicholls from Milford Haven.
Stella had suffered with hip pain for several years and it had left her unable to do many of the things that she loved like gardening, getting out to meet friends and visits to the theatre.
In January 2025 Stella had a hip replacement at Prince Philip Hospital, Llanelli and is now able to move about totally pain free and get on with enjoying her life.
Stella was assessed by the Prehabilitation and Optimisation Team as she had been on a surgical waiting list for a hip replacement. Her assessment eight months prior to her surgery identified some changes that Stella could make to prevent her surgery being delayed, improve her general health, well-being and post operative recovery. These included reducing her Body Mass Index (BMI) and increasing her activity.
“I was invited to take part in an online course run by the Prehabilitation and Optimisation Team for orthopaedic surgery at Hywel Dda,” said Stella.
“I was enrolled on a 12-week course of online video sessions. Each week myself and a small group of fellow patients on the waiting list for orthopaedic surgery were hosted by members of the team for a session of remote physiotherapy and talks on a variety of subjects aimed at improving our quality of life in the present and getting us ready for surgery in the future,” Stella explained.
“The physio sessions consisted of exercises that we could do in our own homes, mostly sitting or using a chair as an aid, and these lasted for about an hour. The talks covered things such as diet, mood, pain management, fatigue and what to expect before, during and after our eventual surgery,” Stella continued.
“It was wonderful to receive such useful information and to be able to share my experience and concerns with other patients dealing with the very same things. We formed almost a little family unit and I looked forward to these sessions.”
“Within weeks of starting I noticed an appreciable improvement in my mobility and pain levels and the changes I implemented in my diet meant that I lost a not-inconsiderable amount of weight.”
“I cannot overstate the positive effect being on this course had on my mental and physical well-being,” said Stella. “Being in severe pain is a very hard thing to cope with when you're in a queue and you have no idea how long it is, how fast it is moving and where your place in it is.
“One thing I would say about people who are on long waiting lists for orthopaedic surgery is that they suffer from a feeling of total neglect. You feel forgotten, just a number on a list, so I was surprised and delighted to be contacted by the orthopaedic prehab team about the course.
“Simply being on the course made me feel that the end was at last in sight and I am certain that I arrived in hospital for my surgery far better prepared than I would otherwise have done so. I am indebted to all of the Prehabilitation Team for the care that they have given me and that I am sure they will continue to give to other patients like me.”
Rebecca Bowen is the Clinical Lead Dietitian for the Prehabilitation and Optimisation Team and is delighted with the results that patients are achieving.
“The 12-week Prehabilitation and Optimisation programme is part of our work to support the Welsh Government’s 3Ps policy – to Promote improved health behaviours; Prevent worsening health and to Prepare patients for treatment and recovery. We aim to ensure that patients are waiting well and are fit for surgery to avoid any last-minute cancellations. Stella is a real success story and a great example of how we can support patients to wait well.”
For more information about Waiting Well for surgery please contact the Waiting List Support Service on 0300 3038322 option 3.
ENDS