An HSJ roundtable, in association with Smith+Nephew, focused on the complex area of wound care to reveal what it takes to achieve joined-up, cost-effective care

Read the detailed report here.

Panel

  • Kate Backshell, senior business unit director of advanced wound management, Smith+Nephew
  • Christopher Brown, clinical quality assurance and procurement specialist (wound care), NHS Supply Chain
  • Jacqui Fletcher, senior clinical adviser, NHS England
  • Sian Fumarola, head of clinical procurement, North Midlands and Black Country Procurement Group
  • Crystal Oldman, chief executive, The Queen’s Nursing Institute
  • Louise Patten, strategic adviser, NHS Confederation ICS Network
  • Claire Read, contributor, HSJ, roundtable chair
  • Mike Watson, associate director digital and data, National Wound Care Strategy Programme
  • Matthew Winn, chief executive, Cambridgeshire Community Services Trust

Providing high-quality care to people with acute or chronic wounds requires coordination and joined-up care across a multitude of healthcare professions and organisations in different settings. It also involves making safe and effective use of medical devices and products, many of them used in the community by health and social care staff with little or no specialist training in wound care. Into this already complex picture is emerging an increasing belief in the value of supporting self-care by patients where appropriate.

In association withSmith and Nephew logo

But the complexities that make wound care challenging are also what makes it a good prism through which to explore how best to create value-based pathways across integrated care systems.

The human and financial consequences of inadequate wound care are severe and the need for improvement, particularly around prevention, is clear. So how can the different stakeholders and organisations work more effectively together? Will ICSs be a game-changer? How can problems in data collection, workforce education and training be addressed? Perhaps above all, how can the “mess” of confusing pathways be made smoother, easier and more patient-centric?

These were among the important issues discussed at HSJ’s recent roundtable discussion, held in association with Smith+Nephew, at The King’s Fund in central London.

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