This feature asks experts in their particular field to take a look at a therapy area and examine some of the challenges that general practice nurses (GPNs) may face. In this issue, we look at the use of an advanced wound technology in clinical practice...

With the current shift in patient care away from hospitals, more and more patients with complex wounds are being seen in primary care settings. This challenge means that clinicians need to take a proactive approach and ensure that the wound dressings they choose will stimulate the biochemical process and create the optimum environment for healing. This article asks Heather Newton, a tissue viability nurse consultant, Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust and Corinna Mendonca, a dermatological consultant, Bolton NHS, why dressings with the TLC Healing Matrix (hydrocolloid particles and lipophilic substances which encourage new granulation tissue through fibroblast proliferation) are used in their clinical settings.

This piece was sponsored by an educational grant from Urgo Medical.