Scanning devices help to keep pressure ulcers at bay
High-tech scanners have been helping with the fight against pressure ulcers by supporting staff at NHFT's community hospitals to detect and treat them early.
Pressure ulcers are a common risk for people spending long periods in hospital - especially older people and those with limited mobility.
Sometimes known as 'bed sores', pressure ulcers are caused by pressure or rubbing on the skin, and without treatment they can get worse and eventually reach deeper layers of skin or muscle and bone.
This can be a serious health risk, set back recovery from illness or surgery and lead to longer stays in hospital.
Prevention of pressure ulcers is a big priority for NHFT's community hospitals, which provide specialist inpatient care for people across Northamptonshire, often to help them get ready to return home after an acute hospital stay.
The specialist digital scanning devices detect excess moisture underneath the skin - an early warning sign of a pressure ulcer. This helps healthcare staff to make an accurate clinical judgement on the risk and potential location of a pressure ulcer so that treatment can be given to prevent them from forming.
Without the scanners, staff have to calculate pressure ulcer likelihood based on a combination of a visual assessment and the individual's known risk factors - a less reliable way of identifying risk for all patients.
The devices were trialled at two of NHFT's community hospital sites - Brackley Community Hospital and Danetre Hospital in Daventry - and they had a major positive impact on pressure ulcer reduction.
While they were in use the number of new pressure ulcers experienced by patients dropped by nearly half, with no new avoidable category 2 pressure ulcers and no new ulcers in category 3 or 4 ulcers (the most serious categories of pressure ulcers).
Use of the scanners also means the chances of missing ulcers because of differences in skin tone are significantly reduced, which helps to minimise health inequalities.
Funding for the initiative was awarded by NHFT's dedicated Innovation Fund, which identifies opportunities to invest in new innovations to improve clinical practice, efficiency, performance, safety, quality and productivity in the Trust's work.
Following the trial, further work with the scanners is to take place at Danetre and Brackley hospitals to understand their effectiveness with a view to potentially using them more widely across NHFT's community hospitals.