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New lower limbs clinic
A new clinic to treat lower limb wounds opens at the Tessa Jowell Health Centre. Following a successful business case presentation to the Partnership Southwark Delivery Executive, a new clinic offering patients treatment and care for lower limb wounds opened in November at the Tessa Jowell Health Centre in South Southwark. The clinic is delivering impressive results for patients, reporting that many long-standing leg complaints are being resolved within weeks of regular appointments at the clinic.
In planning the new lower limb service, the multidisciplinary team working through the Age Well workstream at Partnership Southwark considered what innovative measures they could take in line with national best practice guidance to improve patient experience and help people recover faster.
Patients' views on existing services throughout the borough and what would work better for them were heard. Many patients consulted highlighted the difficulties they often faced managing multiple medical and wellbeing appointments, particularly if they were often changed or cancelled. The new clinic goes some way to ensure that patients have regular, accessible appointments in a convenient location with the same specially trained team looking after them, and access to a social prescriber to support a holistic approach to care delivery.
Staff involvement was key to the project, and staff from GP surgeries, community and neighbourhood nurses, care home staff and Guy’s & St Thomas’s Tissue Viability teams took part in the planning process. A new supplier for dressings has been appointed which guarantees the right materials are in the right place at the right time for all patients. The hope is that this collaborative working approach will eventually be spread out to all Southwark patients and be a model for wider adoption across South East London.
Clinical Director for South Southwark PCN and Age Well workstream lead Brenda Donnelly says: “The new clinic represents a welcome step forward for patients in the care and treatment for lower limb wounds and is already helping people. We have worked with our patients, staff, suppliers and clinical experts to develop this new pathway and are extremely proud that we can provide this excellent new service.
Published: Feb 15, 2024