Lower limb Resources

Summer has arrived and many of us are daring to get our legs out! That prospect isn’t an option for some people, however.

Across the UK, millions live with lower limb wounds and swelling that is preventable, and treatable — yet too often are given suboptimal care. These conditions can have a huge impact on a patient’s quality of life (Franks et al, 2006; GonzálezConsuegra and Verdu, 2011) and a significant burden on the NHS (Guest et al, 2020).

Making every contact count (MECC) is not a new concept, having been part of clinical practice for many general practice, district and community nurses and driven at all levels through educational programmes by Health Education England for some years now (HEE, 2021). The need for early intervention is vital for many people diagnosed with long-term conditions, and this applies to lower limb management too. Prevention of deterioration is incredibly important within the lower limb management field of practice, and this links well with the philosophy of making every contact count because harm is occurring, and this could be prevented with proactive early intervention.