CLINICAL INNOVATION
Innovation in wound care
Jane Clark, UK & Ireland Marketing Manager at Systagenix, discusses the need for innovation in health care.
W
ounds, especially chronic wounds, represent a signifi cant burden to the
NHS both in fi nancial terms and in resource allocation. It is recognised that 70%-80% of community nursing time is spent on wound management,1
and improve cost effectiveness. Currently it is estimated that at any given time there are 200,000 chronic wounds in the UK.7
and estimates suggest that
pressure ulcers alone take up 4% of the annual NHS budget.2
The NHS has a mammoth task;
by 2015 they need to make cost effi cacy savings of £20bn whilst maintaining quality of care, a task considered achievable through innovation.
A new and groundbreaking innovation in wound care is WOUNDCHEK Protease Status, a rapid, point of care (POC) test for the assessment of protease activity in chronic wounds. It is widely accepted that elevated protease activity (EPA) in chronic wounds is associated with impaired healing.3
Unfortunately, until recently there
was no way to assess protease activity in clinical practice, as there are no visual cues for EPA.4
However, since the arrival of the
world’s fi rst point-of-care diagnostic test for wound care, launched in January this year, this has changed. WOUNDCHEK Protease Status fi nally allows clinicians to identify and rule out EPA in wounds, thus facilitating the selection of appropriate therapies early in the treatment regime.
Recently published data has showed that chronic wounds with EPA have a 90% probability that they will not heal without appropriate intervention.5
Furthermore, with
only 28% of non-healing chronic wounds having EPA,6
in order to reduce ineffective treatment choices 44 | national health executive Jul/Aug 12
accurate identifi cation is essential
The arrival of point-of-care diagnostics for wound care has the potential to immediately infl uence treatment decisions and help clinicians target advanced wound care therapies more effectively by identifying when a chronic wound has EPA.
With the cost to the NHS of caring for patients with a chronic wound conservatively estimated at £2.3bn–3.1bn per year (at 2005–2006 costs)8
, the introduction of a diagnostic test to
identify EPA could therefore potentially help save the National Health Service in the UK millions of pounds spent on ineffective wound care.
In a recently published service specifi cation, the NHS has recommended assessment for EPA
Professor Keith Harding of the School of Medicine at Cardiff University, chair of the International Consensus on ‘The role of proteases in wound diagnostics’, commented: “Evaluation and assessment are the fi rst steps that every wound care clinician should take when presented with a chronic, hard-to-heal wound, but up until now we have not benefi ted from innovation in this fi eld. The effective use of a point-of-care test for protease activity has the potential to revolutionise wound care globally.”
Potential impact and the NHS
using a diagnostic test to help determine the treatment pathway for venous leg ulcers.9
The
guidance developed by NHS commissioners, clinical experts and Department of Health offi cials is intended to foster improvements in the way in which leg ulcer services deliver care to patients within the NHS. The guidance clearly identifi es EPA as a complication known to reduce healing rates.
These innovative advances mark the arrival of ‘personalised’ medicine for 21st century wound care.
References 1. White R, Cutting K (2009) The Darzi Report and tissue viability services. British Journal Healthcare management 15(9):458-60 2. Bennett G, Dealey C, Posnett J (2004) The cost of pressure ulcers in the UK, Age Ageing 33:230-5 3. Serena T et al (2011) Protease activity levels associated with healing of chronic wounds. Poster Wounds UK. 4. Snyder R et al (2011) A survey: The importance of proteases in wound healing and wound assessment. Poster Wounds UK. 5. Serena T et al (2011) Protease activity levels associated with healing of chronic wounds. Poster Wounds UK. 6. Ibid.
7. Posnett J, Franks P (2008) The burden of chronic wounds in the UK. Nursing Times 104(3) 44-5 8. Ibid. 9. Extension of Choice of Any Qualifi ed Provider Venous Leg Ulcer & Wound Healing Implementations Pack (2012)
FOR MORE INFORMATION T: 07778 333 521
E:
jane.clark@
systagenix.com W:
www.systagenix.co.uk
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