The cost of wound care for a local population in England

Abstract

The objective of this study is to estimate the cost of wound care in a local population of approximately 590 000 using results from a wound care audit carried out in Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire as a basis. Full results of the audit will be published separately. An audit in June 2005 provided information on patients with wounds and on their treatment. This was combined with representative National Health Service unit costs to produce an estimate of the total cost of wound care in 2005–2006. In all, 1644 patients had a total of 2300 wounds (1·44 per patient). Most (74·1%) were treated in the community by district nurses, 21·2% were treated in hospital and 4·8% were treated in residential or hospice care. More than one in four hospital inpatients (26·8%) had a wound. Median duration was 6–12 weeks. Twenty‐four per cent had their wound for 6 months or more, and almost 16% of patients had remained unhealed for a year or longer. One in eight wounds (12·8%) were reported as showing signs of infection. The estimated cost of wound care in 2005–2006 was £15 million to £18 million (£2·5 million to £3·1 million per 100 000 population). Caring for patients with wounds required the equivalent of 88·5 full‐time nurses and up to 87 hospital beds. Wounds are a significant source of cost to patients as well as the health care system. The most important determinant of cost appears to be wound complications which require hospitalisation or which delay hospital discharge. Reducing costs requires a systematic focus on effective and timely diagnosis, on ensuring treatment is appropriate to the cause and condition of the wound and on active measures to prevent complications and wound‐related hospitalisation. These results should be generalisable to other similar populations in the UK and elsewhere.