Pennine Acute Trust supports pressure ulcer awareness week

Judy Harker, nurse consultant for tissue viability at the Trust

The Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is supporting national pressure ulcer awareness week, which runs from 18 to 22 November 2013.

Each of the Trust’s hospitals – North Manchester General Hospital, The Royal Oldham Hospital, Rochdale Infirmary and Fairfield General Hospital in Bury - will be holding awareness stands near the main entrance at each hospital during the week.

On Thursday 21 November, which is international STOP pressure ulcer day, the stands will be manned by members of the Trust’s tissue viability team, so that members of the public, patients and staff can learn more about pressure ulcers.

Pressure ulcer champions from the Trust will also be engaging with patients, carers and staff on wards and departments to raise awareness throughout the week.

Treating pressure ulcers costs the NHS between £1.4 to £2.1 billion annually and at any point in our lifetime, we or a person we know, could be at risk of developing a pressure ulcer.

Bed sores as they are more commonly known, occur when the skin and the tissue beneath it becomes damaged, typically occurring among patients who cannot move or who have lost sensation. Prolonged periods of immobility put pressure on the skin, soft tissue, or bone, causing tissue damage to develop.

Judy Harker, nurse consultant for tissue viability at the Trust, said: “Pressure ulcer prevention is not a new priority for the Trust. Over the last two years we have stepped up our efforts to reduce pressure ulcers across our hospitals. Our tissue viability team has been working closely with staff at all levels of the organisation to raise awareness of the importance of identifying and managing pressure ulcers correctly.

“These measures have resulted in a change in mindset and attitude of Trust staff when it comes to preventing pressure ulcers and stopping them from developing in patients. Staff no longer view pressure ulcers as an inevitable outcome of patients being frail or unwell.

"One preventative measure the Trust has rolled out across all of its hospital sites is the Skin Bundle. This outlines a number of interventions that can be taken to prevent patients from developing pressure ulcers in the first place.

“These interventions include making use of pressure relieving mattresses, carrying out regular skin inspections, moving patients and adjusting their posture when they have reduced mobility, keeping patients’ skin clean and dry at all times and ensuring patients remain hydrated at all times.”

The Trust currently operates a zero tolerance approach to avoidable and preventable pressure ulcers and this forms part of the Trust’s new five year quality strategy goals.