FREE TRAINING FOR PREVENTION OF PRESSURE ULCERS

Healthcare professionals are accountable for providing safe and effective care to prevent pressure ulcers. Lynn Collingbourne, Commissioning Manager, Adult Commissioning (CH) in Bristol has given us information about SSKIN, free training for care providers.

More about the SSKIN below, SSKIN awareness training which includes use of documentation is offerred free to all organisations that Community Health interface with.  These sessions run monthly and last for one hour - they plan to alternated between North and South venues this current year

Enquiries for a list of dates can be sent to wcs@nhs.net  andstaff can be booked on thru this

Pressure ulcers are recognised as a patient harm, as they can cause pain and affect quality of life and general health and wellbeing. In certain circumstances pressure ulcers can result in infection, amputation, delayed discharge from hospital or ongoing community care and sometimes death. Pressure ulcers can also have financial implications on the individual and the NHS as a whole. See BAPEN website for more information.

It is important for all healthcare professionals to work collaboratively and engage with risk assessments of patients and the five principles of pressure ulcer prevention. These are:

• Surface
• Skin Inspection
• Keep moving
• Incontinence and moisture
• Nutrition and hydration

When these key principles are implemented pressure ulcers can be avoided.

The duty of candour must be applied for all serious pressure ulcer incidents and an investigation must take place to identify cause or gaps in care. If there are any gaps in care, lessons must be learnt and shared to avoid reoccurrence. If there are any concerns regarding omissions to patients care, refer to your local safeguarding policy or contact your safeguarding team for advice.