Millions of people suffer from pain, distress and reduced quality of life from chronic wounds, and millions more have wounds that need care following surgery. Treating wounds is costly to the NHS, which spends £5.3 billion a year on these services.¹ Better use of evidence-based practice would improve the quality of people’s care and treatment, and release NHS resources.

As part of improving wound care, the Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB) has published a Wound Care Information Standard, which is designed to support the use of evidence-based practice and improve the recording of consistent information which can be shared with professionals involved in the person’s care. The development of the standard was commissioned by the National Wound Care Strategy Programme (NWCSP) and will support the NWCSP’s objectives to prevent the development of new wounds, reduce pain and suffering, improve healing rates, prevent healed wounds from recurring, support self-management of wounds, and improve the efficiency of healthcare services and resources. It covers specifically the assessment, management, maintenance, and prevention of lower limb (leg and foot wounds), pressure ulcers and surgical wounds. There are three domains of information that will be covered: wound assessment and treatment, treatment plan and supported self-management.

To develop it, the PRSB gathered evidence and consulted widely with people, professionals and software vendors including tissue viability nurses, community nurses, podiatrists, and surgeons to find out what they want to record and share to support wound care management and better outcomes.

Dr Una Adderley, Director at the National Wound Care Strategy Programme, said: “The opportunity for improving wound care services lies in the adoption of  best practice on a wide scale – and this is something that the PRSB’s Wound Care Information Standard will support. The collection and use of standardised, high quality clinical information will enable better assessment, management, maintenance, and prevention of wounds for clinicians, and will support system leaders to understand their wound care services.

I was pleased to be involved in the development of the standard, and I look forward to seeing how it will contribute to better outcomes and will make a difference to millions of people suffering from wounds.”

Maureen Baker, PRSB’s Chair, added: “Wound care affects people of all ages, and is a complex area of healthcare. Sharing and recording information consistently with the right professionals is key to ensuring that people receive the best wound care possible and that services are used more efficiently and effectively.”

¹A new quality of life wound checklist: the patient voice in wound care, 2018

NOTES TO EDITORS

About the PRSB

The Professional Record Standards Body (PRSB) is a body responsible for the development of standards enabling interoperability for clinical record sharing across health and care. It is a member organisation bringing together 82 members, including royal colleges and social care organisations, and promotes professional and patient engagement to drive uptake of digital solutions in health and care.