Positive change

The summer has seen changes … a change of government, a change of health secretary and a change in policies. The proposed salary increases for healthcare staff, which at the time of writing are still subject to approval, would see the Pay Review Body recommendation for nurses and allied health professionals for 2024 fully implemented. There is finally a positive move in the junior doctors’ pay discussions. Whether the respective groups accept the pay rises has yet to be seen. However, this does appear to be positive and will be important in the drive for more efficiency.

Many of you will be aware of the National Wound Care Strategy Programme's (NWCSP) work on the implementation of the leg ulcer and foot ulcer recommendations, which tested the assumptions of the business case (NWCSP, 2024a). The NWCSP (2021) has highlighted that in 2019, there were around 739000 leg ulcers in England, with estimated healthcare costs of £3.1billion per annum. It also highlighted that the growth in prevalence was predicted to be 4% per annum. A strategy was needed to both improve care quality and reduce costs.