A review of skin and leg ulcer practice in clinics and care homes in the Wirral highlighted a need for change. The practice in place required a healthcare assistant to undress and soak each patient’s leg in a bucket of water and cover the leg with a non-adherent dressing and cotton bandage until a qualified nurse followed later to apply the compression bandages. This pilot was developed to evaluate a different way of deep cleansing the wound and skin, removing debris and dry scale without the need for water. This resulted in one nurse cleansing and dressing each wound which simplified the process and also reduced costs for the NHS and reduced the risk of musculoskeletal injuries to staff by removing the need to lift heavy buckets of water.
