Wound Care and Leg Ulcer Assessment and Management
Contents:
National overview
Useful documents from the National Wound Care Strategy
Surgical Wounds
Leg and Foot Ulcers
Pressure Ulcers
National Wound Care Workforce Strategy
Local Prescribing Formulary
Primary Care
Level 1 Immediate and Necessary Care Pathway
Local specialist TVN/Leg Ulcer provider services
Learn on Demand e-learning accredited by the Royal College of Nursing
For specific location, service information, training pathways and dates, please scroll to the bottom of the page.
National overview
Wound care in England costs approximately £8.3 billion per annum, the third highest expense for the NHS after cancer.
In terms of practitioner time, this equates to 54.4 million district or community nurse visits per year, 28.1 million practice nurse appointments and 53.6 million healthcare support worker visits.
There is unwarranted variation in the treatment of wounds, with underuse of evidence-based practice and overuse of ineffective interventions. (Ref: Wound Care Strategy | NWCSP)
The National Wound Care Strategy Programme (NWCSP) was commissioned by NHS England to address this concerning situation. In 2019, the National Wound Care Strategy Programme (NWCSP) was launched.
See: National Wound Care Strategy Programme | NWCSP
N.B. The National Wound Care information is now available on the Futures Platform: Home page - Futures – you need to register with a NHS email address to access this.
Useful documents from the NWSCP can be found below:
Surgical Wound
Leg and Foot Ulcers
Pressure Ulcers
National Wound Care Workforce Framework
The Wound Care Workforce Framework, has been designed as a single, consistent, and comprehensive framework, developed by and for a multi-professional audience, who manage wound care.
Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Board (ICB)
The following prescribing information for Wound and Leg Ulcer management, has been produced and signed-off for use across the ICB:
· Hertfordshire and West Essex Compression formulary
· Foot / Lower Leg Wounds, including Ulcers
Primary Care
Initial wound care and leg ulcer management is expected to be carried out in primary care. Therefore, there is a requirement for primary care teams to have the necessary training, skills and competences to carry out this work. This includes identifying red flags early and knowing how to document information correctly (this is important as it allows collection of data for greater understanding about wound care management across the ICB), and when to refer to specialist teams. More complex wound care is managed by specialist teams initially in community settings.
General practice is commissioned to provide level 1 immediate and necessary treatment, including ABPI and compression therapy for lower limb wounds. See pathway:
Click below for specific service information and training dates and information.
Hertfordshire Community NHS Trust Tissue Viability Service.
Service Lead: Jacquie Warner
The service offers specialist clinical advice and support for complex wound management to any patient registered with a GP in East & North Herts. Referrals can be accepted from community adult health or integrated teams, community hospitals, nursing homes, GP, practice nurse, hospice inpatients and children in both East & North and West Herts.
Further activity includes monitoring and management of Hertfordshire and West Essex wound products formulary, education programmes in tissue viability, implementation of local and national guidance, policy development and audit in practice.
Referral Hub: 03001237571
Email: herts.tvn@nhs.net
Registered Healthcare Professional Pathway & Training Dates
HCA Training Pathway and Training Dates
Competences – Wound Care and Leg Ulcer
For South West Herts training details and information click here
HertsOne community Leg Ulcer Service
HertsOne community Leg Ulcer Service covers South West Herts which includes Hertsmere, Dacorum, St Albans and Harpenden, and Watford, 3 Rivers.
We run 15 clinic days per week from various clinics/ surgeries within SW Herts. Our team is lead by a clinical lead and service lead with a mixed skill team comprising of HCAs B4 NAs and specialist nurses.
We are commissioned to provide holistic leg ulcer wound assessment/ doppler and treatment of non-healing and reoccurring leg ulcers after 6 weeks of treatment within primary care. Patients are discharged once healed.
Email: herts.one@nhs.net
CLCH South West Hertfordshire Tissue Viability Service
Service Lead: Clare Rogers
The Tissue Viability service is a nurse-led specialist service providing expert clinical advice and support for the management of complex wounds. It is staffed by specialist nurses with extensive knowledge and experience in treating acute, chronic, and complex wounds.
The service offers specialist clinical guidance to any patient registered with a GP in South West Hertfordshire. Referrals are accepted from a variety of sources, including community adult health or integrated teams, community hospitals, nursing homes, GPs, practice nurses, and hospice inpatients.
Additional responsibilities of the service include overseeing the Hertfordshire and West Essex wound products formulary, delivering education programs on tissue viability, implementing local and national guidelines, developing policies, and conducting audits to improve practice.
Referral Hub: 03000 200656 (Option 7 for Tissue Viability)
Email: clcht.westherts.tvn@nhs.net
For West Essex training details and information Click here
Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust Tissue Viability and Leg Ulcer Service
Service Lead: Samantha Blackwood
The service offers specialist clinical advice and support for complex wound management and Leg Ulcers, to patient’s registered with a GP in West Essex. Referrals can be accepted from community adult health or integrated teams, community hospital inpatient wards, nursing homes, GP, practice nurse, hospice inpatients.
Our Specialist Wound Care Team is dedicated to providing holistic and evidence-based care, ensuring high standards of practice throughout West Essex. We offer specialist advice and support to healthcare professionals across the region, working together to prevent and manage acute and chronic wounds, particularly those that are hard to heal, complex, or problematic.
This will be supported through educational programmes, policy development and implementation of national and local initiatives.
How the service is provided
Telephone advice
Joint visits with clinician at home, in a care home, or at the GP practice.
Appointments at our 5 specialised leg ulcer clinics across West Essex.
Remote consultations and advice for other healthcare professionals to enhance the care provided.
Referral Hub – Care Co-ordination Centre: 03001235433
Email: epunft.tissueviabilityservice@nhs.net & weleg.ulcerservice@nhs.net
Community Specialist Wound Care Service | Essex Partnership University NHS Trust
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Resources
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