Leg ulcer flowchart saving NHS millions wins top award

The Trust’s Barnsley tissue viability service has been named a winner at an international award ceremony celebrating the world’s leading tissue viability and wound care professionals.

The service scooped Gold at the Journal of Wound Care World Union of Wound Healing Societies Awards in the ‘Cost-effective Wound Management’ category.

The Journal of Wound Care Awards are also known as ‘The Olympics of Wound Care’, as they celebrate excellence in practice and research represented by entries from across the world.

The nomination was made in recognition of a pathway the service introduced which helps district nurses to treat leg ulcers more efficiently, saving the NHS millions of pounds.

The pathway’s flowchart, launched in June 2018, gives district nurses guidance on how to care for leg ulcers in line with national best practice standards, which are designed to improve the quality of care within the NHS by reducing variations in treatment.

The cost savings come from a reduction in the number of home visits undertaken by district nurses due to a greater improvement in healing rates. When patients are placed on the pathway, there is a 67% healed rate at 24 weeks, and a 90% healed rate at 40 weeks.

A quicker healing time also results in less need for dressings, hosiery, and antibiotics, which also generates significant cost savings for the NHS.

Lead tissue viability nurse Laura Hallas Hoyes said: “Lots of hard work has been put in by the tissue viability team and district nurses to get the pathway up and running and they’ve seen some amazing improvements. It gives staff and their patients a big sense of satisfaction when a patient is completely healed.

“We are so proud that our hard work has been recognised at these awards which celebrate some of the best care not just in the UK but internationally too. It’s a really big honour to have won and we are so pleased with the difference the pathway is making to our service.”