The Tissue Viability service provides specialist advice and support to healthcare professionals who are managing complex wounds within the community of Oxfordshire.
The nurse-led team works in partnership with patients, their carers and healthcare professionals to provide expert wound care advice, specialist healthcare equipment and education that is aimed at preventing needless skin breakdown.
The team aims 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.
You can contact the Tissue Viability Service by telephone, fax, email or post, Monday to Friday 8.30am-4.30pm.
We are based in the Admin building at Abingdon Community Hospital and our address is:
Tissue Viability
Administration Building
Abingdon Community Hospital
Marcham Road
Abingdon.
OX14 1AG
Phone: 01865 904959 or 904271
Messages can be left on our answerphones.
Email: tissueviability@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk for clinicians using Oxford Health email
Or tissueviabilityadmin@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk for referral forms
Seeking Advice from the Tissue Viability Team
Step 1. If you have a general query about dressings, treatment pathways, equipment provision etc, there is a wealth of information on this website which is designed to help you with your clinical decision making.
Step 2. If the information you need is not here, contact your Tissue Viability Resource Nurse (ReN), or a more experienced colleague. ReNs have had additional training from the TV team and so may be able to advise you.
Step 3. If your query cannot be answered by the above, you should email the TV team. When your email is delivered to the TV team inbox, you will receive an ‘out of office’ reply that states the email has been received. If you do not get this, the email has not arrived and therefore, you should resend it.
Step 4. If you are with the patient and discover something serious that needs immediate advice and guidance, or there is a sudden deterioration in a patient you have emailed about you should ring the team administrator on 01865 904959/ 904271. Please do not ring in with routine queries; you will be redirected to our email service.
Step 5. Tissue Viability Referral – This should be submitted when the plan of care that has been implemented following the assessment, is not progressing as expected. This form includes referrals for complex wounds, chronic oedema, skin problems and pressure damage problems associated with seating and posture. You should only complete the section(s) that apply to your patient. If requesting equipment, you will need to complete a separate equipment request form.
Patients can be referred by their GP, community nurse or any other health care professional.
We do not accept referrals from patients directly. Referrals for advice on wound care should be made using the tissue viability referral form. The Tissue Viability Service referral process guidance and TV referral pathway guides will help you identify when and how to refer to us.
Referrals for equipment should be made using the equipment request form
Referral forms should NO LONGER be faxed to the team but should instead be emailed to our referrals email address: tissueviabilityadmin@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk. We no longer have an nhs.net email address.
All referrals should accompanied by a medical summary printout and digital photographs of the wounds.
Identifying the correct piece of equipment for a patient can be complex. The Tissue Viability Team deals with advice and guidance for clinicians regarding equipment for tissue viability purposes only. Equipment required for functional or health reasons are not sourced through our team. Refer to an occupational therapist for functional need or contact the nursing staff for a health need.
The following guidance documents are provided to assist clinicians in decisions around the provision of equipment.
Guidance on Prescribing Equipment
- Criteria for the supply of riser recliner chairs
- Criteria for the supply of hospital beds into residential care homes
- Dermis Plus Prevent
- Frequently requested information on pressure relieving equipment
- Pressure relieving equipment formulary (Adults) – A guide for community clinicians
The previous versions of the Mattress selection guide, cushion selection guide and Guide to heel protectors have now been amalgamated into the’ Pressure Ulcer Equipment Formulary (Adults: A guide for clinicians’ and can be found at the back of this document.
Once supplied, it’s important that equipment is set up correctly. Many pieces of equipment will be set up by Millbrook on delivery. It is the prescriber’s responsibility to make sure they are correctly set up and are regularly checked to monitor this. The following guides may be helpful:
- Tally Quattro mattress guide to changing comfort settings
- Setting up a Starlock cushion
- ROHO competency
If you require any further help please do contact our equipment nurse on 01865 904003.
We offer a comprehensive programme of training courses which are free for Oxford Health staff. These courses are also open to other staff groups such as practice nurses and nurses working within nursing homes but incur a charge. Please email Learning & Development at learn@oxfordhealth.nhs.uk for further information
We are pleased to announce that the 2022 Tissue Viabilty Training Program will return in the main, to Face-to-face training. A summary of the program is available in the link below.
We are running the following courses:
- Wound Prevention, Assessment and Management – full day
- Pressure Damage Prevention & management – ½ day
- Fundamentals of Leg Ulcer Management – 2 full days
- Chronic Oedema – full day
- Hosiery Workshop – ½ day
- Tissue Viability 2023 Training Schedule
We are happy to announce the 1st of two Tissue Viability Skills Days for 2023 will be held on Thursday 29th June at Benson Parish Hall. Skills Days are large events with all the companies who have products on the Wound Formulary present and a series of short workshops. OHFT staff can find further details, and book onto the courses, via the Learning & Development OTR Portal. Non-OHFT staff will need to apply via Learning & Development by emailing CPDExternalCandidates@Oxfordhealth.nhs.uk and submission of an application form which they will be sent.
Videos from our virtual training program are now available on a separate Tab on this site. These are an additional resource but will not count as attendance on the above courses.
Oxford Health staff – please book on via Learning & Development Portal
NON-Oxford Health staff – please book on via email to Learning & Development – CPDExternalCandidates@Oxfordhealth.nhs.uk
We have a playlist of training videos on wound assessment and management our the Trust YouTube channel.
Conditions and treatment
Assessment is the foundation of all clinical practice; without a robust holistic assessment it is difficult to achieve a clear management plan. This section provides information and tools to aid clinicians in clinical practice and to support them to develop clear and achievable management plans.
The following guidelines are available to assist clinicians:
Pressure ulcers are caused when an area of skin and the tissues below are damaged as a result of being placed under pressure sufficient to impair its blood supply. The European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel defines them as:
“An area of localised damage to the skin and underlying tissue caused by pressure, shear, friction and/or a combination of these.” (EPUAP, 1999)
Typically they occur in a person confined to bed or a chair by an illness and as a result they are sometimes referred to as ‘bedsores’, or ‘pressure sores’. All patients are potentially at risk of developing a pressure ulcer. However, they are more likely to in people who are seriously ill, have a neurological condition, impaired mobility, impaired nutrition, or poor posture or a deformity (NICE, 2014).
A leg ulcer is defined as ‘the loss of skin from the knee to the ankle, which takes more than 6 weeks to heal’. There are several reasons why people get leg ulcers, the most common one (approx. 60 – 80%) being due to venous insufficiency arising from faulty valves in the veins and/ or poor calf muscle pump action. A smaller percentage of ulcers (10 – 20%) are caused by poor circulation in the arteries or as a result of other diseases such as diabetes or rheumatoid arthritis.
It is estimated that approximately 1% of the population in the United Kingdom will suffer from leg ulceration at some point in their lives with the experience often impacting negatively on their quality of life. Without correct treatment, ulcers can remain unhealed for many months or sometimes years, resulting in episodes of infection, pain and immobility.
To improve the healing rates of venous leg ulcers in Oxfordshire a venous leg ulcer treatment pathway has been introduced (click on venous leg ulcer pathway tab) which supports evidence based practice and has contributed to more ulcers being healed within 24 weeks. All clinicians delivering leg ulcer care are expected to use this pathway.
The resources found within this site will assist nurses with their clinical decision making when managing a patient with a leg ulcer.
Please see the following guidelines for further information:
[/nhsuk_expander]We have developed and made available a range of documents and guidelines to assist and inform clinicians within Oxfordshire.
Page last reviewed: 18 April, 2023