It’s World Patient Safety Day, and we are pleased to share that HIEM was one of the finalists at the Patient Safety Awards last night in London.

Our Transforming Wound Care programme has been shown to heal wounds more quickly for housebound patients.

Using recommendations from the National Wound Care Strategy Programme (NWCSP), we worked with the Lincolnshire Community Health Services (LCHS) team to transform their wound care pathway for housebound patients with lower limb wounds.

Through implementing the new pathway including an in-depth initial assessment by specifically trained staff, this previously marginalised patient group now has access to evidenced based treatments earlier, resulting in quicker healing and much improved quality of life as well as restoration of independence.

Senior Improvement Lead at HIEM, Richard McBain said: “As part of the new Transforming Wound Care pathway, each patient receives a 90 minute assessment from a Tissue Viability Nurse that includes a Doppler (ultrasound) test that looks at blood flow to the wound.

“The results of this test help the clinicians to diagnose the type of wound and optimise treatment. 

“This initial test at the start of the pathway has helped the team to heal almost 20% of patients within 12 weeks of assessment and help patients get more mobile.

“By implementing the programme the team have saved up to 240 hours of clinical time, a huge amount for such a small team. This in turn, frees up staff to assess and treat new patients earlier than they previously would have been able to, further increasing the opportunities for the wounds to heal more quickly.

“It was great to see the team’s hard work recognised at the awards.”

For more details 

Read the case study

Visit our Transforming Wound Care webpages