Holistic assessment: the patient and wound

Wound care is a major health concern that significantly impacts many aspects of patients' lives, their health and wellbeing.^1,2 It poses a huge burden on NHS resources, with wound dressings alone accounting for at least £120m of primary care prescribing costs in England.³ For the period 2005 to 2006, caring for patients with chronic wounds in the UK cost in excess of £2.3 to 3.1bn per year.⁴ This does not include the cost of treating acute wounds such as burns and surgical wounds which are at risk of becoming complicated lesions of the skin and underlying tissues if they are poorly managed.⁵ The human costs such as pain, social isolation and depression are hidden.⁶