Wounds in WA – the facts
Are wounds really a problem?
Almost 50 per cent of patients in Western Australia’s public hospitals have one or more wounds at some point during their hospital stay.
20 to 25 per cent of the wounds are potentially preventable hospital-acquired injuries such as pressure ulcers and skin tears.
The sheer size of our state - covering an area of more than 2.5 million square kilometres - presents daily challenges in providing best practice wound care to all Western Australians.
How do we gather the facts?
WoundsWest completed state-wide audits in 2007 and 2008. These audits, a national first for Australia, involved 468 clinical staff examining the skin of more than 6,000 inpatients across 85 hospitals. The audits gathered information on wounds and wound management, enabling hospitals to track improvements in care and focus resources in the right areas.
As a result of WoundsWest’s 2007 audit, WA public hospitals received $5 million in Commonwealth funding for pressure reducing mattresses and other equipment.
Here is a summary of the results:
| 2008 | 2007 | Change 2007 to 2008 | |
| Population | |||
| 3,451 | Patients approached | 2,979 | 472 more patients* |
| 88% | Patients consented to skin inspection | 93% | 5% less consented |
| 268 | Staff received education and training | 220 | 48 more staff |
| 100% | Health services participated** | 100% | Unchanged |
| Prevalence | |||
| 48% | Wound prevalence | 49% | 1% decrease |
| Wounds | |||
| 25% | Preventable hospital-acquired injuries | 19% | 6% increase |
| 69% | Wounds with current documentation | 74% | 5% decrease |
| Pressure ulcers | |||
| 9% | Patients had 1 or more hospital-acquired pressure ulcers | 8% | 1% increase |
| 52% | Patients with a RAT*** performed within 24 hrs of admission | 39% | 13% increase |
| 91% | Patients with a pressure ulcer had a pressure relieving device in situ | 82% | 9% increase |
| Contextual data | |||
| 58% | ACHS EQuIP 4 pressure ulcer reporting in place | 21% | 37% increase |
| 54% | Participation in SQuIRe Clinical Practice Improvement program ulcers | 25% | 29% increase |
| 51% | Patient literature on wound prevention and care in use | 47% | 4% increase |
Note:
- *In 2008 329 public aged care beds were included in the survey and 86% of these patients consented to skin inspection (n = 284)
- **In 2007 80% hospitals (n = 68) had eligible patients to survey and in 2008 96.5% (n = 83) of hospitals had eligible patients to survey
- ***RAT – Risk Assessment Tool