Pressure ulcer partnership welcomes new NICE guidelines

Posted on 28 May 2014

A pressure ulcer partnership representing patients, carers and clinicians has welcomed the issue of new clinical guidance for the prevention and management of pressure ulcers by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

The James Lind Alliance Pressure Ulcer Partnership (JLAPUP) is also supporting the call for more research into prevention and treatment.

Pressure ulcers – pressure sores or bed sores - are hard-to-heal wounds that are painful for patients and distressing for both them and their carers. A wide range of interventions are available for the treatment and management of pressure ulcers, but evidence of their effectiveness remains limited.

JLAPUP, which includes health scientists from the Universities of York and Manchester, has been working with patients, carers and health professionals to identify and prioritise the questions about pressure ulcer prevention and treatment that matter most and to encourage research in these priorities.

Chair of the JLAPUP, Sally Crowe, said: "We welcome the release of NICE Pressure Ulcer Clinical Guidelines and support the call within the guidelines for further research. The questions identified by NICE for further research were also identified by over 500 patients, carers and clinicians as high priority for research by the JLAPUP. We encourage the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to prioritise these questions for research."

The new NICE clinical pressure ulcers guidance (CG179) made recommendations for research based on its review of evidence to improve NICE guidance and patient care in the future. The five topics identified for more research included: pressure ulcer wound debridement; negative pressure wound therapy; risk assessment in neonates, infants, children and young people; pressure redistributing devices; and repositioning.

Two of the five research recommendations - repositioning to prevent pressure ulcers and pressure redistributing devices for prevention – were also identified by patients, carers and health professionals as high priority for research by JLAPUP and are included in its ‘Top 12 pressure ulcer research priorities’. The remaining three appear in its top 30.

The JLAPUP research was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Programme Grants for Applied Research (PGfAR) programme, as part of the Wounds Research for Patient Benefit Programme (WRPB) at Leeds Community Healthcare NHS Trust. The research was carried out in collaboration with the University of York’s Department of Health Sciences and the University of Manchester’s School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work. More information is available at: www.jlapressureulcerpartnership.co.uk

The new NICE clinical guideline C179 is available at http://publications.nice.org.uk/pressure-ulcers-prevention-and-management-of-pressure-ulcers-cg179.

Notes to editors:

The James Lind Alliance Pressure Ulcer Partnership (JLAPUP) is a partnership of organisations representing patients, carers and clinicians. Its aim is for patients, carers and clinicians to work together to:
- identify important areas where further research is needed to improve care;
- assemble and publish these in the Database of Uncertainties about the Effects of Treatments (UK DUETs) which publishes treatment uncertainties from patients, carers, clinicians, and from research recommendations, covering a wide variety of health problems.
- decide which of these research questions are most important. More information is available at: www.jlapressureulcerpartnership.co.uk

The Wounds for Patient Benefit Programme presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) under its Programme Grants for Applied Research funding scheme (RP-PG-0407-10428). Programme Grants for Applied Research are awards made by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). For more information, visit www.pgfar.nihr.ac.uk
The James Lind Alliance Priority Setting Partnership (JLA PSP) infrastructure is hosted by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) to provide the support and processes for Priority Setting Partnerships (PSPs). PSPs aim to help patients, carers and clinicians work together to agree which are the most important treatment uncertainties affecting their particular interest, in order to influence the prioritisation of future research in that area. For further information, visit the JLA website (www.jla.nihr.ac.uk).
The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is funded by the Department of Health to improve the health and wealth of the nation through research. Since its establishment in April 2006, the NIHR has transformed research in the NHS. It has increased the volume of applied health research for the benefit of patients and the public, driven faster translation of basic science discoveries into tangible benefits for patients and the economy, and developed and supported the people who conduct and contribute to applied health research. The NIHR plays a key role in the Government’s strategy for economic growth, attracting investment by the life-sciences industries through its world-class infrastructure for health research. Together, the NIHR people, programmes, centres of excellence and systems represent the most integrated health research system in the world. For further information, visit the NIHR website (www.nihr.ac.uk).
This article presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.
The Department of Health Sciences at the University of York is large and multidisciplinary, offering a broad range of taught and research programmes in the health and social care field, including nurse education (for which it was ranked the top department in the country for nursing education, in the 2014 Guardian Good University league table). It aims to develop the role of scientific evidence in health and healthcare through high quality research, teaching and other forms of dissemination. In the recent national assessment of research quality, the University was rated equal first for its Health Services Research and fourth for its Nursing and Midwifery research. Visit www.york.ac.uk/healthsciences.
For more information about the University of Manchester’s School of Nursing, Midwifery and Social Work visit www.nursing.manchester.ac.uk.