The Lower Limb Wound Pathway
Leg ulcers are a common problem for patients and put pressure on the NHS. To save costs and reduce nursing workloads while maintaining care quality, the NHS needs improved ways of working.
A treatment plan that helps diagnose and uses strong compression as the main method to manage venous leg ulcers can improve patient safety, enhance their experience, save nursing time, and make care more effective.
Adopting the Lower Limb Pathway approach can support you to reach your goals.
Immediate and Necessary Care
Immediate and Necessary Care ensures that all wounds receive prompt, evidence‑based intervention from the very first presentation, rather than being left untreated while awaiting full assessment or referral. This approach is designed to reduce harm, prevent deterioration, and improve outcomes
Leg Ulcer Assessment
A Leg Ulcer Assessment is a critical step in the Lower Limb Pathway because it ensures that the underlying cause of the wound is correctly identified, enabling safe, effective, and evidence‑based treatment. Without this assessment, there is a significant risk of inappropriate care and avoidable harm.
Ongoing Treatment
Ongoing Treatment focuses on maintaining effective strong compression therapy, monitoring progress, and adjusting treatment as the limb condition changes, once initial assessment and safe compression decisions have been made. Its purpose is to support healing, prevent deterioration, and reduce recurrence through structured review and appropriate escalation.
Maintenance
Up to 69% of wounds reoccur annually. The Maintenance section of the Lower Limb Pathway focuses on preventing recurrence once the wound has healed or is close to healing. It recognises that lower‑limb ulceration is often a long‑term condition, and that stopping treatment once the wound closes significantly increases the risk of re‑ulceration. Maintenance is therefore about protecting healing gains, sustaining limb health, and supporting long‑term self‑care.
Would you like further information on implementing the Lower Limb Pathway?
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