Overview of the programme

The Transforming Wound Care national programme aims to ensure all patients with lower limb wounds receive evidence-based care. This is in order to achieve: 

  • Faster healing of wounds 
  • Improved quality of life for patients 
  • Reduced likelihood of wound recurrence 
  • More efficient use of health and care resources 

The programme uses the evidence, learning and recommendations from the National Wound Care Strategy Programme (NWCSP). 

We are working with local healthcare organisations at five initial test and evaluation sites to establish a dedicated lower limb wound service. 

The three key elements of the programme are: 

  • People: the delivery of training to all staff supporting patients with wounds 
  • Processes: implementing a new evidence-based model based on the recommendations of the NWCSP
  • Technology and design: supporting data collection and provision of care through a new digital wound management system 

(Header image courtesy of the Queen’s Nursing Institute)

Summary of resources

Below, you will find information collated to help you learn more about this programme’s aims, impact, and wider context, including evidence and information to support your implementation.

The resources have been selected for the benefit of health and care professionals. Some information links out to third party sources, and the Health Innovation Network is not responsible for the content on those sites.

An implementation toolkit has been developed by the Transforming Wound Care team which curates information from a range of sources, to support those looking to implement the National Wound Care Strategy Programme’s (NWCSP) lower limb recommendations.

Nurse smiling with patient

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Chronic lower limb wounds account for at least 42% of all wounds in the UK, and leg ulcers are the most common type (34% of the total wound population, compared to 7% pressure ulcers and 8% diabetic foot ulcers). 

A large proportion of the resources allocated for wound care is spent on these chronic lower limb wounds because of their slower healing rates. In 2019, there were an estimated 739,000 leg ulcers in England with estimated associated healthcare costs of £3.1 billion. 

Based on evidence from the National Wound Care Strategy Programme, the total number of leg ulcers will increase by around 4% annually – driven by an increase in leg ulcers that either recur after healing or do not heal – and will reach over 1 million by 2036 if there is no intervention. 

You can find the implementation case for preventing and improving lower limb wound care on the NWCSP website. 

Source: https://www.nationalwoundcarestrategy.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/NWCSP-Implementing-the-Lower-Limb-Recommendations-15.12.20-1.pdf 

The Transforming Wound Care programme team have developed an implementation toolkit to support sites looking to implement the National Wound Care Strategy Programme’s (NWCSP) lower limb recommendations.

The Transforming Wound Care programme has three implementation elements: 

People – Free-to-access e-learning resources have been developed by the National Wound Care Strategy Programme (NWCSP), in partnership with Health Education England and e-Learning for Healthcare. These resources support the health and care workforce to develop knowledge and skills to enable appropriate wound care in any setting. 

  • NWCSP Core Capabilities Framework for England: This capabilities programme has been developed by the NWCSP in partnership with Health Education England and Skills for Health. It identifies and describes the skills, knowledge and behaviours needed to deliver high quality, person-centred wound care. 

Process – The programme supports local services to implement a new evidence-based model based on the lower limb recommendations of the NWCSP. 

Technology and design – Through the programme, local services will be supported with improved data collection and provision of care through implementation of a new digital wound management system.

There is a wealth of evidence-based resources available which support the improvement of wound care. These can be explored through the National Wound Care Strategy Programme. 

Two resources are available to date, both available in some of the most spoken languages in England and Wales with funding from Eastern Academic Health Science Network:

Taking a photograph of your wound

The ‘Taking a photograph of your wound’ leaflet explains the benefits gained by patients photographing their wound, how to get the best possible photo and tips on saving and sending photos.

There are also two posters available for displaying in clinics and GP surgeries:

Compression

The leaflet on compression explains why compression is important for the treatment and prevention of venous leg ulcers:

National enquiry

To find out more about any of our national programmes, please complete this form.

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