The Cleddau River Day Unit has been honoured with an award and has been held up as a flagship facility by the Community Hospital Association.

The Hywel Dda Health Board unit, based in South Pembrokeshire Hospital, Pembroke Dock, will receive the innovation and best practice award at a ceremony held in Preston in May.

The team provides individualised day care for Pembrokeshire people who require rehabilitation and/or social care, with patients encouraged to use the day care facility as part of their recovery.

Resource centre manager, Tilly Morrissey, said: “The integration of health and social care on a single site has proved successful in bridging the gap between hospital and community services and promoting earlier discharge from hospital for patients.

She added: “This award will give our dedicated and hard working staff a real boost.”

The unit has also achieved a full accreditation as a practice development unit from Leeds University’s centre for the development of healthcare policy and practice.

Practice development nurse Judith Bowen said: “The integration of health and social care teams, and the numerous innovations pioneered at the unit, ensure the highest quality of care for our patients in an environment which is committed to learning and improvement.”

The unit has received much praise since its opening in 2007 and was visited by Welsh health minister Edwina Hart in 2008.