HOSPITALS in Gwent have declared war on pressure ulcers – commonly known as bedsores – as part of an ongoing drive to improve patient care.

The focus of the programme, which has been introduced to all adult wards over the past couple of years, is to minimise the number of pressure ulcers developed by patients after admission.

Pressure ulcers can lengthen a patient’s stay in hospital, and those who develop them are often older, more vulnerable patients for whom an ulcer can be an added complication of care, with potentially significant ill-health effects in itself.

All hospital-acquired ulcers are of concern, but the most serious – grade three and four – are now subject to extra scrutiny with individual cases reviewed by a senior nurse.

These cases are also discussed at fortnightly pressure ulcer surveillance meetings, so circumstances can be investigated and understood with the aim of preventing similar occurrences in the future.

Since last October Aneurin Bevan Health Board has collected details of all pressure ulcers from all patients from an increased number of hospital areas, as opposed to the previous practice of a snapshot, single-day survey every month.

This has led to an increase in the number of ulcers recorded, but is likely to be a more accurate picture.

From last October to February more than 200 hospital- acquired pressure ulcers were recorded, 12 of which were grade three or four and subsequently subject to a clinical investigation.

If the pressure ulcer is deemed as a result to have been avoidable, an action plan must be drawn up.

Of around 1,500 pressure ulcers identified among patients in Gwent hospitals in the year to February, a little less than a quarter were acquired in hospital.