Barriers to healing pressure ulcers within the community setting: a service evaluation

To effectively support patients with wounds in the community, healthcare teams must adopt diverse and tailored approaches to care. Patients with pressure ulcers require a detailed assessment of all the factors which may cause pressure ulcers or delay healing. This assessment should be performed by specialists as evidence-based guidelines recommend this approach to achieve the best outcomes. This service evaluation explores some of the complexities of achieving this for a rural community nursing trust. A case study has been used for a patient with multi-morbidities and spina bifida within a rural community nursing Trust. Challenges in delivering effective communication are common across teams, and there are often insufficient pathways for collaborative work. Achieving this would require a significant cultural shift towards interdisciplinary team working. Successful implementation would enhance collaborative practice, improving both patient outcomes and staff satisfaction. However, workforce challenges, particularly staff retention issues, currently hinder teams' ability to transform their working practices.