Wound care
a national focus for wound care, driving improvements in clinical pathways and standards. With the closure of the programme, the sector has lost a vital platform for coordination and leadership. The ABHI Wound Care Group is committed to continuing to support this work. This includes working with the Health Innovation Network and building links with key ABHI programmes to ensure wound care is embedded in broader health policy and working with government and NHS stakeholders to raise the economic and clinical profile of wound care. The group is also exploring mechanisms to sustain the work of the NWCSP, ensuring that its tools, frameworks, and evidence base remain accessible and utilised. However, though the NWCSP laid critical
groundwork, the sector must now go further, to build upon the NWCSP’s foundations to deliver real, systemic change. This should include strong clinical leadership from the centre, clearer accountability across care settings, and renewed investment in outcomes-based, patient-centred models of care. Across global health systems, there are
pockets of best practice in wound care that demonstrate the impact of more joined-up, patient-centred approaches. Reimbursement reforms and targeted incentives have helped to accelerate the uptake of advanced wound care technologies. Standardised care pathways, coupled with investment in home- based services, have shown improvements in both outcomes and efficiency. Meanwhile, the use of multidisciplinary teams to deliver care across hospital and community settings highlights the benefits of integrated service models. The UK has an opportunity to learn from these models as it recalibrates its own strategy.
Addressing inequality and workforce pressure Wound care plays a pivotal role in tackling health inequalities. Chronic wounds are more prevalent in older populations and in deprived communities, where access to consistent and high-quality care can be limited. These wounds are often co-morbid with other long- term conditions, adding to the complexity of care.
Moreover, the burden falls largely on community nursing teams - particularly district nurses, whose numbers have declined significantly over recent years. Around 50% of a district nurse’s role is spent on wound care, yet these professionals are often under-resourced and overstretched. There is also a loss of expertise as
experienced clinicians retire without succession planning in place. Nurses entering the workforce often lack the specialist knowledge needed to manage complex wounds, and training opportunities are limited. In fact, many nurses receive minimal formal education in wound care during their degree programmes, often learning on the job once in post. This can result in knowledge gaps being passed down informally. With in-role training rarely mandated, this challenge is further compounded. Addressing it requires urgent attention, and partnering with industry to provide targeted, high-quality training offers a pragmatic way to scale up skills quickly, particularly given the limited capacity within the NHS to meet this demand alone. Education and training must be prioritised. Introducing dedicated modules on wound care
into nursing curricula, supporting continuing professional development, and creating advanced tissue viability roles within community teams could improve retention and ensure that specialist skills are developed and maintained. National policies should also include incentives for upskilling nurses and care assistants in wound care competencies. Regional tissue viability leads could be empowered to drive consistency in training standards and care protocols, while digital education tools offer scalable solutions to address workforce knowledge gaps.
A broader economic case The economic and social impact of chronic wounds extends beyond healthcare. Patients with wounds frequently experience physical and emotional distress, which can affect their ability to work and participate in family life. Many older
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