Our Complex Wound Care Clinic
A more convenient and easier to access service
Our Complex Wound Care service is provided by Birmingham Community Healthcare Foundation Trust’s District Nursing team.
Patients have greater and more convenient access to complex wound care management. We deliver the service in a clinic setting, rather than in the patient’s home.
But it's not just patients who benefit though. The nurses can also give clinicians specialist advice and guidance, as and when they need it.
How does it work?
The service is especially suitable for patients who:
- need specialist wound care management expertise
- are ambulatory
- would prefer a booked appointment at a time and venue that is convenient for them
The District Nurses can see more patients in a two hour clinic than could be seen at home. This means thus ensuring a more effective use of resources.
After being assessed, patients will either be:
- Referred back to their GP practice with a care plan, and reviewed in clinic after a month; or
- Managed in the clinic until they can be stepped back down to their GP practice
Patients referred for compression have an initial assessment. A Doppler reading is taken if it hasn’t already been done and the correct dressings are ordered.
Once the patient has given their explicit consent, the District Nurses working in the clinic can access the patient’s clinic record. They can also add details of the consultation. This ensures the patient’s registered practice is fully informed of the treatment plan.
The service also provides specialist assessment and advice to GPs and Practice Nurses managing wounds in primary care. When necessary, it can facilitate onward referrals to other services - such as the Tissue Viability or Vascular Services. Routine stitch and clips and basic dressings are still managed in general practice.
The clinic is suitable for patients who are 17 years old and older with:
- Complex wound care needs
- Fungating wounds
- Compression with a confirmed venous leg ulcer diagnosis
- Non-healing wounds who have been seen and treated in General Practice for six weeks or longer and are felt to need assessment by specialist Wound Care Nurses
The service is provided in West Heath, Fernley and River Brook Hubs.It’s available Monday to Friday.
Find out more
To find out more about our Complex Wound Care Clinic, please contact us today.