Central Queensland Health’s Chronic Wound Specialist Service (CWSS) is celebrating a major milestone – one year of improving patients’ quality of life.
The nurse-led clinics in Gladstone and Rockhampton support patients with chronic and complex wounds who require specialist assessment, diagnosis and treatment.
The service, which commenced in November last year, has cared for patients during more than 1,500 appointments in its first 12 months.
Impressively, 95 per cent of healable wounds had shrunk by 25 per cent within four weeks.
Central Queensland Health Chief Executive Lisa Blackler said the clinics were helping reduce Emergency Department presentations for cellulitis.
“By delivering this specialist care, we are improving the quality of life of people in our community, as well as reducing pressure on our Emergency Departments,” she said.
“It allows patients with chronic wounds to avoid repeated visits to the ED, while providing them with targeted therapies and ongoing, planned care.
“I’m so proud of our dedicated teams delivering this specialist wound care for Central Queenslanders closer to home.”
The teams of Clinical Nurses, led by Nurse Practitioner for Chronic Disease Naomi James, help heal the chronic wounds with tissue debridement and compression therapy.
“People can struggle with chronic wounds for many years, trying to self-manage them, or become stuck in a vicious cycle of recurrent infections,” Naomi said.
“With the right treatment, even the most complex wounds can be healed. It’s so fulfilling seeing the improvement in quality of life for our patients.
“We have seen several patients who were previously travelling to Brisbane for treatment, and now they can receive this care closer to home.
“Our nurses are able to build a relationship with each patient, and we’re seeing huge improvements in wound care because of that.”
Once the wound is healed, the CWSS team works with Occupational Therapists to further support the patient’s recovery to prevent the wound from returning.
The service is located at Gladstone Hospital, the CQUniversity Rockhampton Health Clinic, and supports all Central Queensland facilities via telehealth.