The community Tissue Viability team based at Abingdon Community Hospital provides advice and support to healthcare professionals who are managing complex wounds in the community across Oxfordshire. They work alongside community teams to build individualised care plans for patients.

The team is currently made up of six tissue viability nurses and two administrators. Within the next month they will be welcoming another member to the team who will be joining as a nursing associate.

One patient said: “They were brilliant in explaining what was wrong with my leg and the care that will be provided. So, I would have a better quality of life and hopefully be able to get out more.”

Another service user felt they were in “safe hands” and said: “Excellent communication of condition and plan, they were caring and professional.”

The team works hard to improve and support high standards of practice through clinical consultations, regular audits, development of guidelines and polices and by delivering formal educational training to healthcare professionals.

Penny Rubio clinical lead said: “I am amazed at how much this very new team has managed to achieve over the last six months. There has been so much change and hard work to go with it. To receive such good feedback from patients, who after all are the ones who really matter, is very encouraging.

“The team has grown significantly over the past year which has enabled them to begin to branch out and build closer working relationships with the teams they are supporting using a locality-based structure.”

And the good reviews keep coming with one explaining: “Since receiving care from the tissue viability services, my legs have improved greatly,” and that they gained “A lot more knowledge about their condition which has helped.”

And it’s not just the medical expertise that makes a difference as another reviewer said that the team member they met was “A very lovely person who treated me, they explained everything in depth and I felt positive about the overall care.”

If you would like to find out more about the Community Tissue Viability Team click here.