Lower Limb Care
The Gloucestershire Lower Limb Wound Pathway and associated guidance documents and resources have been developed to support consistent, high‑quality care for people with leg ulcers across Gloucestershire and is firmly aligned with the National Wound Care Strategy Programme (NWCSP) leg ulcer recommendations. Its purpose is to reduce unwarranted variation in care, promote early specialist assessment, and improve outcomes for people with non‑healing leg wounds.
Leg ulcers are common among frail and less mobile people and can have a significant impact on quality of life, including pain, odour, exudate, reduced mobility, sleep disturbance, anxiety and social isolation. These issues are highly relevant to the care home population, making effective and coordinated leg ulcer care an essential component of EHCH delivery.
The guidance has been developed through a system‑wide Lower Limb Wound Improvement Project, involving primary care, community nursing, tissue viability services, vascular specialists, commissioners and system partners. This collaborative approach has ensured the guidance is evidence‑based, clinically robust and deliverable across multiple settings, including care homes. It translates national NWCSP guidance into clear local pathways, supported by agreed education and training standards, referral routes and formulary arrangements.
The guidance is underpinned by a tiered education and training framework, enabling care staff to work confidently within their competence and understand when escalation is required.
The Gloucestershire lower limb wound care guidance documents including the pre-doppler lower limb initial treatment pathway (immediate and necessary care), full pathway, lower limb compression formulary and education and training standards, can be found by accessing the link below:
