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Best-practice wound management pilot begins
Chronic wounds commonly affect elderly patients with a complex range of medical conditions.
Hunter New England Health has made significant inroads in the management and treatment of wounds. These best-practice approaches will be piloted in a number of sites across the Area over the coming weeks in conjunction with Wound Awareness Week (Monday 30 March to Sunday 5 April).
Wound Management Nurse Practitioner for Hunter New England Health Margo Asimus said a number of innovative changes in wound care practices and service delivery had been developed by local Hunter New England Health staff.
“We are really focussed on developing a best-practice approach for the treatment of wound management,” Ms Asimus said.
In the past year, six wound management clinics have been established at Community Health Centres in the Newcastle region.
This rollout has been so successful that an additional five pilot sites across Hunter New England Health will implement the program in the coming weeks.
“We have identified clinicians who will be able to lead other clinicians in the improved wound care management model of practice. We are currently working with these members of staff to train and mentor them in advanced wound techniques, which will enable them to support local staff, with knowledge and skills, to care for complex wound cases,” Ms Asimus said.
Health service sites in Armidale, Tamworth, Taree, Muswellbrook and Maitland will take part in the initial rollout.
“We will be introducing an electronic wound measurement system and digital photography consultation which provides our staff with concrete evidence-based results to discuss with a patient or GP,” she said.
The new Visitrak wound measurement system, to be used across all identified sites, is likened to the 1970’s magnetic Magna-Doodle slate.
A transparent sheet is placed over the patient’s wound and traced. This sheet is then placed onto a computerised tablet, which, when re-traced, automatically calculates the surface area of the wound.
“This system can provide us with a really accurate percentage reduction in wound size over a period of time. We can then tell if treatment is effective, with the wound treatment algorithm in place. There was previously no standard approach,” Ms Asimus said.
The project has resulted in improved health outcomes for clients in the Newcastle area, where the project has been in place for some time, with a non healing wound rate falling from 44 per cent to 11 per cent.
“It’s a very exciting time. Where these patients may previously have been referred to other health professionals, we will now have clinical staff with specialist skills in wound management in local communities,” Ms Asimus said.
Contact: Nicole Fuller
Phone: (02) 4921 4477
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