Wound Care and Leg Ulcer Assessment and Management

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

 

Useful documents from the NWSCP can be found below:

 

Surgical Wound

Recommendations for Preventing and Managing Surgical Wound Complications
Download
Surgical Wound Complications Clinical Pathway
Download
Assessment for Shared Care for Wounds
Download

Leg and Foot Ulcers

Foot Ulcer Recommendations
Download
Foot Ulcer Recommendations Summary
Download
Leg Ulcer Recommendations
Download
Leg Ulcer Recommendations Summary
Download
Shared Care for Wounds
Download

Pressure Ulcers

Pressure Ulcer Clinical Pathway
Download
Pressure Ulcer Recommendations and Clinical Pathway
Download
The aSSKINg Framework
Download

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.

Wound Care Workforce Framework
Download

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:

Level 1 Immediate and Necessary Care and Leg Ulcer Pathway
Download

·       Hertfordshire and West Essex Compression formulary

·       ICS Wound care formulary

·       Foot / Lower Leg Wounds, including Ulcers

·       Silver dressings

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.

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

Referral Form

Registered Healthcare Professional Pathway & Training Dates

HCA Training Pathway and Training Dates

Hertfordshire and West Essex Compression Garment Formulary - 11th June 2025

Venue: Shephall Centre, Shephall Green, Stevenage, SG2 9XR

4 Sessions to choose from:

  • 9am - 11am

  • 11am - 1pm

  • 1pm - 3pm

  • 3pm - 5pm

You will have the chance to attend a 1-hour update from the Specialist Leg Ulcer Service and the Lymphoedema Service, followed by a 1-hour practical skills workshop to support you with measuring techniques for both ‘made to measure’ (MTM) hosiery and compression wraps.

There will also be a marketplace with all our industry partners on formulary for you to get more familiar with their ‘off the shelf’ garments, garment donning aids and bandage options.

Refreshments and light bites will be available in the marketplace throughout the day.

This event is open to all Community and Primary Care nurses within E&N Herts.

Click here to book

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

Hertfordshire and West Essex Compression Garment Formulary - 18th June 2025

Venue: Stanborough conference centre, 609 St Albans Rd, Watford WD25 9JL

3 Sessions to choose from:

  • 9.30am-11.30am

  • 11.30am – 1.30pm

  • 1.30pm – 3.30pm

You will have the chance to attend a 1-hour update from the Specialist Leg Ulcer Service and the Lymphoedema Service, followed by a 1-hour practical skills workshop to support you with measuring techniques for both ‘made to measure’ (MTM) hosiery and compression wraps.

There will also be a marketplace with all our industry partners on formulary for you to get more familiar with their ‘off the shelf’ garments and garment donning aids.

There will be refreshments and light bites available in the marketplace throughout the day.

This event is open to all Primary Care and Community nurses within South West Herts.

Click here to book

Community Specialist Wound Care Service | Essex Partnership University NHS Trust

Hertfordshire and West Essex Compression Garment Formulary - 12th June 2025

Venue: The Griffin Suite, Latton Bush Centre, Southern Way, Harlow, CM18 7BL

3 Sessions to choose from:

  • 9.15am – 11.15am

  • 11.30am – 1.30pm

  • 1.45pm – 3.45pm

The TV/LUS would like to invite you to attend the launch of the new HWE Compression garment formulary.

There will be an introduction by the team and a brief review of the EPUT Immediate and Necessary care pathway. This will be followed by a 1.5 hour practical workshop where you will have the opportunity to familiarise with all the compression garments on the formulary, practice applying the different compression systems and how to measure and order each garment.

The marketplace will enable you to network with our industry partners and discuss further training opportunities for you and your teams.

There will be refreshments and light bites available in the marketplace throughout the day.

This event is open to all Community teams and Primary care staff across West Essex

Click here to book

 

Resources