Nurses and Students team up for training film

Community Nurses have joined forces with students from a Norfolk college to make a film that will help health professionals improve how they care for patients with lower leg wounds.

The media students from East Norfolk Sixth Form College in Great Yarmouth used their filming and video editing skills to help nurses from East Coast Community Healthcare (ECCH) and Norfolk Community Health and Care (NCH&C) produce the training video which will be shared with colleagues and GP practice staff across Norfolk and Waveney.

The two healthcare organisations have been working together on a new national initiative to improve lower limb wound care. Norfolk and Waveney Integrated Care System is the first in the East of England to be chosen for the project by the Academic Health Science Network.
One million people in the UK have a lower limb ulcer – that’s 2.0% of all adults. It is estimated that this costs the NHS around of £3.1 billion per year.

During the project, ECCH’s Tissue Viability Nurses have been supporting patients across Great Yarmouth and the northern villages, Gorleston, Lowestoft and South Waveney. NCH&C has been working with patients in King’s Lynn and Norwich.

A digital app which supports wound care assessments has been introduced and is currently being piloted by a team in Waveney. The aim is to integrate it into the electronic patient record system used by both organisations which gives clinicians access to the latest information wherever they are in Norfolk and Waveney.

This electronic system has also been improved to enable staff to better record whether patients have had the expected and required levels of assessment, treatment, education and planning.

These changes have resulted in clinicians being able to spend more time with patients, update records more efficiently and complete onward referrals for patients as soon as possible after their initial appointment. It has also helped with earlier recognition of wound causes.

Tricia D'Orsi, Executive Director of Nursing, NHS Norfolk and Waveney, said: "Becoming a Transforming Wound Care Programme Test and Evaluation Site (TES) is a really exciting opportunity for us here in Norfolk and Waveney. This programme is supporting us to transform services at a greater pace, working together to deliver high quality care for our patient, ensuring our staff have more time to spend with our patients.

"The support from East Norfolk College has been fantastic in developing this video and we’re looking forward to sharing what we’ve achieved and making further progress.”

ECCH’s Director of Operations, Adele Madin said: “This programme has enabled us to focus on a number of really transformative improvements for wound care services across Norfolk and Waveney. Working with our colleagues at NCH&C means we now have one pathway for patients wherever they live in the area and has also enabled us to strengthen our working relationship as partners in the healthcare system. The video will be invaluable for training purposes and we couldn’t have achieved it without the talent and enthusiasm of the students at East Norfolk College to whom we are extremely grateful.”

Carolyn Fowler, Director of Nursing and Quality at Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust, said: “We’re delighted with the success of this pilot and how it has benefited patients. It’s an excellent example of innovation and joint working between the two community health and care providers in Norfolk and Waveney and has shone a light on the invaluable work of our community teams.”