Specialist nurse awarded for role in improving care for wound patients

A specialist nurse has been named a changemaker champion for her role in making improvements to Swansea Bay’s wound care service.

Tracy Thomas, a tissue viability clinical nurse specialist, helped to introduce improvements to lower limb management within the community-based service.

The main change has seen compression hosiery introduced for patients with venous leg ulcers. These can be caused by injury or persistently high blood pressure in the veins of the legs causing breakdown of the skin.

Pictured: Operational clinical lead nurse for wound care services Karly Harvey, Tracy Thomas and vascular clinical nurse specialist Annie Clothier who sits on the Legs Matter committee.

As a result, the timeframe for the ulcers to heal for patients has reduced drastically.

Now, Tracy has been presented with the Legs Matter Changemaker award for her role in improving the service for patients.

Tracy said: “We have done lots of quality improvement work in Swansea Bay within the community wound clinics, making sure that we always incorporate evidence-based practice and NICE guidelines within our care.

“We started introducing first line compression hosiery to patients with venous disease and carrying out comprehensive lower limb assessments and ankle brachial pressure index test to check for peripheral arterial disease and patient suitability for compression therapy.

“If the patient was suitable, we would put them in the hosiery or bandage systems as close to their first visit as reasonably possible, normally within a two-week timescale.

“Previously, patients were remaining on caseloads for weeks and weeks and sometimes even years, which was having an effect on their wellbeing.”

The changes made within the service have seen remarkable success in reducing the time for many patients’ venous leg ulcers to heal.

“Within the wound care service, we just found the results were fantastic,” Tracy added.

“Patients were having their ulcers healed from the point of being referred to the service to 12 weeks and below.

“The national average time for healing a venous leg ulcer between 0 to 12 weeks is around 14 per cent of patients, whereas our rate is 43 per cent which is much higher.

“For Swansea Bay to actually be recognised that most of our practices are within the standards that have been set is just phenomenal.”

Tracy worked with the health board’s lymphoedema team, as well as Lymphoedema Network Wales, to ensure lymphoedema patients also received the correct compression hosiery at the point of their admission.

She said: “We did lots of collaborative work within Swansea Bay to make sure every patient that came into the service had a suitable garment or bandage system to leave with.

“When patients come into the service we check they are safe to have the garments and then assess and measure them.

“That is now standard practice for every patient.”

Catherine Davies, Deputy Head of Nursing for the health board’s Primary Community Therapies Group, and Karly Harvey, operational clinical lead nurse for wound care services, both nominated Tracy for the Legs Matter award.

Legs Matter is a coalition of health professionals that aims to increase awareness, understanding and prevent harm for lower leg and foot conditions.

Karly said: “I nominated Tracy because she has been such an inspirational leader within the team and her passion for lower limb care has been contagious.

“She has worked hard to ensure staff within the team have the knowledge and confidence to treat lower limb wounds and took the time to nurture them to ensure we are providing evidence-based practice.

“Tracy always has the patient at the heart of her work and the changes she has made have had a huge impact on healing and quality of life for patients living with a chronic ulcer.

“The title of the award is perfect as Tracy really is a changemaker, for both patients and staff. The whole team and I feel so proud and privileged to work with her.”

The award ceremony was held online over Zoom, with Tracy later being presented with her accolade at Port Talbot Resource Centre.

“I was really shocked,” she said.

“I was absolutely over the moon when they called my name. I couldn’t believe it.

“It was the first time they had given out this award so it was quite prestigious to be the first one.”

Tracy has since changed roles, now working as a tissue viability clinical nurse specialist but within the Singleton and Neath Port Talbot Hospital group instead.

She added: “My aim is to transfer the skills I’ve learned in the community, where I worked for 12 years, onto the rehabilitation wards in the hospitals.

“As I knew I was finishing in the wound service, receiving the award was a lovely way end to my time there.

“It made me feel like my work had been worthwhile.”