Clinical and economic impact of wound care in the UK: a critical review of –2025

Wound care in the UK has long been challenging, clinically complex and economically burdensome. Wounds affect millions of patients annually, costing the NHS billions of pounds. Despite the scale of this problem, wound care services have historically been subject to fragmentation, variable clinical practice, delayed interventions, a lack of coordinated policy focus and poor data collection. Between 2015 and 2025, this situation has persisted in the face of increasing pressure on NHS resources, rising patient demand and growing evidence of suboptimal outcomes, particularly for chronic wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers and venous leg ulcers. This article critically analyses the literature relating to clinical and financial outcomes of wound care in the UK from 2015 to 2025 published by Professor Julian Guest. Critically analysing Guest's publications on wound care is important for several reasons, especially in relation to clinical and policy-making contexts in the latest NHS plans; it is essential to understand what strategies have worked, what gaps remain and how future services should be designed. There is a pressing need to synthesise the decade of research and policy developments in wound care. This article serves to critically appraise the progress and effectiveness of recent efforts.