Yorkshire group spearheads bedsores care drive
Anyone can develop a pressure ulcer but those most at risk have reduced mobility
Published on Monday 19 September 2011 06:00
A YORKSHIRE-based network is spearheading efforts to improve care of a condition that costs the NHS billions of pounds to treat.
Estimates suggest as much as four per cent of NHS expenditure is spent on pressure ulcers, also called bedsores, which affect half a million people each year in the UK. It occurs when pressure is applied to skin to disrupt blood flow long enough for it to break down.
It can lead to lengthy hospital stays, affect quality of life and in the worst cases even prove fatal. Superman actor Christopher Reeve died from an infected pressure ulcer in 2004.
Now the patient network co-ordinated by Leeds University is involving patients and carers nationwide in work to improve treatment and prevention and increase expertise of health staff.
Among the patients involved is Kay Walker, 26, of Mirfield, who uses a wheelchair, and developed a pressure ulcer more than 12 months ago via equipment used to help her into the shower, which dramatically affected her life.
For around a year, she needed twice-daily changes of her dressings by district nurses as well as strong painkillers, which left her with side-effects, and is still receiving treatment. She has been forced to postpone university studies as it became impractical for her to work and it has also affected her social and family life.
She said she had never been told about the risks but joining the Pressure Ulcer Research Service User Network (PERSUN) had given her renewed purpose.
She said: “It helps knowing that you’re not the only person that has had a pressure ulcer. It is isolating and you need to find your place in the world again and it has helped me helping other people and given me a better understanding of it for myself.
“It’s really important people know the risks and we want to get it out there that it is a factor.”
Anyone can develop a pressure ulcer but those most at risk have reduced mobility. The network works aims to steer research to make it relevant to patients, help with work to develop and test equipment and treatments, and influence staff education and clinical practice. It is also building links with industry in work developing wound care technology.
