This week (18-22 November) is #STOPthePressure Week – a national and worldwide campaign by clinicians to raise everybody’s awareness of pressure ulcer prevention and management.
The Society of Tissue Viability has been collaborating with the National Wound Care Strategy Programme (NWCSP) and all #4Nations for STOP the Pressure Week over recent years, with representatives from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
#STOPthePressure Week coincides with STOP Pressure Ulcer Day on Thursday 21 November – an annual campaign held by the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP) every third Thursday in November, to raise awareness on the importance of preventing pressure ulcers.
Pressure ulcers (which are also known as pressure sores or bedsores) are injuries to the skin and underlying tissue, primarily caused by prolonged pressure on the skin. Anyone can get a pressure ulcer, but people who are spending more time in bed, or who sit in a chair or wheelchair for long periods of time, are especially vulnerable. This describes a lot of our patients and service users. Pressure ulcers can be dangerous or life threatening if untreated and when identified, should receive urgent medical attention.
Tissue Viability team out and about raising awareness
Our Tissue Viability team will be out and about on the information bus in Gloucestershire throughout #STOPthePressure Week, raising awareness about the dangers and potentially life-threatening complications of pressure ulcers, as well as the steps which can be taken to help prevent them. You will find them at:
- Monday 18 November: Cheltenham High Street (opposite M&S)
- Tuesday 19 November: Tesco at Lydney
- Wednesday 20 November: Cirencester Market
- Thursday 21 November: The Cross, Gloucester (by HSBC)
- Friday 22 November: Dursley Market Place (town centre)
Why not come and say hello?
