Wound Care Hubs
Wound Care Hubs (WCH) are provided by Sunderland Community Nursing Services within the 6 District Nursing Teams across the city delivering a wound care service for patients registered with a Sunderland GP. The clinics provide planned care therefore access is by referral and scheduled appointment only.
There are twelve WCH operating across the City for patients requiring wound care who are not housebound. Each District Nursing Team has two clinics daily. One clinic is led by a Registered Nurse (Community Staff Nurse) and one clinic is led by a Health Care Assistant (HCA). Patients can access any of the six locations regardless of GP or where they live. This enables greater choice and access for the patient.
Location and hours of operation
The wound clinics are delivered from six locations across the city
- Washington Primary Care Centre, Princess Ann Park, NE38 7QZ
- Houghton Primary Care Centre, Brinkburn Crescent, DH4 5GU
- Riverview Health Centre, Borough Road, SR1 2HJ
- Silksworth Health Centre, Silksworth Road, SR3 2AN
- Springwell Health Centre, Springwell Road, SR3 4HG (currently operating temporarily from Pallion Health Centre, Hylton Road, SR4 7XF due to building works in Springwell)
- Southwick Health Centre, The Green, SR5 2LT
The service operates Monday to Friday 08:30 – 17:00 with a reduced service at weekends and Bank Holidays - 52 weeks of the year.
The service provides care for the following planned treatments:
- Any adult with a wound who has been referred by a health professional.
- Children over the age of 2 who have been referred by a health professional and the wound care is part of a package of care supported by a management plan i.e. burns.
- Leg ulcer prevention and management.
- Pressure ulcer management.
- Management of Lymphoedema (non-complex)
- Doppler assessment (including diagnostic) ** under review.
- Post-operative wound care e.g. wound assessment, suture / clip removal, packing of wounds.
- Wounds below the ankle with a podiatry management plan
- Skin tears or open wounds requiring dressings only.
- Topical Negative Pressure management
Exclusion criteria
The clinics provide a planned service and therefore will not see:
- Any trauma wounds requiring exploration and suturing.
- Undiagnosed lesions
- Hot /red legs
- Suspected cellulitis/suspected DVT (referrer should consider recovery at home as an option)
- Rashes including nappy rash.
- Removal of foreign bodies
- Children under the age of 2
- Diabetic foot ulcers which have not been assessed by podiatry and do not have a supporting management plan.
- Post-surgical patients who have had a joint replacement and have clinical signs of infection.
Access and referral to the wound clinic
Referrals are accepted from healthcare professionals including General Practitioner’s, Secondary care, patients, family members, carers and care home support staff at the District Nursing Team Single Point of Contact either by telephone contact or managed referrals.
The decision to accept the referral will be made by a District Nurse or experienced nursing staff according to the referral criteria and an appointment will then be made at an appropriate WCH.
Referrals from General Practice
Referrals for appointments are made through the wound care managed referral template on EMIS. Once received, the referral will be processed by the team and the patient contacted to arrange a suitable appointment time and location. This is done within one working day.
Referrals from Hospitals
When discharging a patient from hospital the ward can make a direct referral for a follow up appointment into the WCH. Alternatively, prior to discharge patients can be given the number to ring to make their follow up appointment for the WCH.
Following initial appointment, subsequent appointments where required are planned and negotiated with the patient and completed by the nurse in the wound hub.
Sunderland Diagnostic Team
The Diagnostic Team are a team of Health Care Assistants (HCA) who cover the City of Sunderland whose role is to complete / collect a range of diagnostic tests such as blood samples or urine tests or record observations e.g. Blood Pressure, pulse or temperature.
The team, work within the East District Nursing Team and are based at Riverview Health Centre.
The team work closely with all the District Nursing Teams, General Practitioners and Steps to Health.
Referrals are made directly into the Diagnostic Service by managed referrals from all the District Nursing Teams, Diabetic Service and Cardiology service (Steps to Health).
Sunderland Community Frailty Teams
Within each of the six District Nursing Teams is a Community Frailty Team consisting of highly skilled Community Nurse Practitioners (CNPs) and Junior Community Nurse Practitioners.
They work closely with the District Nursing Teams and Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) prioritising the changing needs of the patient and providing planned care. They have key working relationships with a variety of NHS Voluntary, Third Sector Services, Allied Health and Social Care Professionals They co-ordinate care and services for people identified as having moderate to severe frailty, complex needs, long term conditions or are identify as a high intensity service user.
The aim is to provide personalised holistic care, support and care planning to promote independence, wellness and self-care where possible. Also to prevent inappropriate hospital admissions and prevent deterioration of health. Patients may live in their own home or in an older persons care home.
The referral criteria into the Frailty Team are people over 65 years of age with
- Complex long-term condition who are high intensity users of health services
- Deteriorating complex co-morbidities
- Poly pharmacy
- Moderate to severe frailty
- Rockwood score of 5 or above if known
- People living in older persons care or nursing homes.
- People discussed and referrals by MDT
Referrals can be made by GPs, Hospital services and Community Teams.
The Community Frailty Teams are based within the six District Nursing teams and can be contacted by Single Point of Contact for each Team
Coalfields - 0191 502 5763
East – 0191 5027424
North – 0191 5027350
Washington – 0191 5026999
West 1 – 0191 5026426
West 2 – 0191 5025837
Across the City of Sunderland there are six District Nursing Teams offering a range of services. Providing holistic nursing care to housebound patients preventing unnecessary hospital admission and allowing patients to be cared for in their own home or chosen environment.
A housebound patient is confined to their place of residence and unable to use any form of transport to access clinics for treatment. Patients who can leave their home (either escorted or unescorted) and travel on foot, wheelchair, public transport or taxi to attend GP, dental or hospital appointments are not considered house bound.
The teams consist of District Nursing Specialist Practitioners, Community Staff Nurses, Health Care Assistants, Specialist Frailty Nurses, Social Workers, Diagnostic Team and Wound Care Hubs. We have close working links with Tissue Viability, General Practitioners, Specialist Palliative Care Nurses, Hospice Care, Continence Service, Equipment Services, Practice Nurses, Carers and voluntary sector agencies.
The teams provide nursing care to the housebound for End-of-Life Care, Palliative Support, Long Term, Acute and Chronic Conditions. In response to identified health needs, the service offers nursing treatments, disease prevention, promotion of health, independence and self-care.
- Delivering highly skilled care at End of Life and Palliative support allowing people to remain at home and die in their preferred place of care.
- Controlled drug administration and symptom management
- Assessment and management of complex and non-complex wounds.
- Bladder Care and Catheterisation
- Bowel Care and Continence assessment
- Insulin administration and diabetic management
- Self-management support for patient, family and carers promoting independence and wellbeing.
- Holistic assessment, care planning, monitoring and review of all patients on the caseload appropriate to need.
Our staff aim to promote independence and wellbeing by working together to provide people with the right care from the right professional at the right time. Patients are individually assessed so that a tailored visiting plan can be developed to meet their specific needs. As part of this plan, we actively promote and support patients and carers to take responsibility for managing their own care, which helps to reduce unplanned admissions to hospital.
All the District Nursing Teams operate a Single Point of Contact (SPOC). Referrals are accepted from healthcare professionals including General Practitioner’s, Secondary care, patients, family members, carers, care home support staff and social workers.
Decision to accept the referral will be made by a District Nurse or experienced nursing staff according to the referral criteria. Triage will be completed at the point of contact to identify the needs of the patient with initial assessment planned if required.
Patients are then individually assessed so that a tailored visiting plan can be developed to meet their specific individual needs.
The decision to discharge patients from intervention will be made by the District Nurse or experienced nursing staff.
The six District Nursing Teams in Sunderland work from the bases below:
Core working hours 08:00-18:00 - 7 days a week - 365 days a year.
Coalfields District Nursing Team
Clinical Team Manager – Jeanette Wardle
Houghton PCC, Brinkburn Crescent, Houghton le Spring DH4 5GU Tel: 0191 502 5763
East District Nursing Team
Clinical Team Manager – Debbie Savage
Riverview Health Centre, Borough Rd, Hendon, Sunderland SR1 2HJ Tel: 0191 5027424
North District Nursing Team
Clinical Team Manager – Karen Davies
Bunhill Primary Care Centre, Hylton Lane, Sunderland SR5 4BW Tel: 0191 5027350
Washington District Nursing Team
Clinical Team Manager – Claire Zitouni
Washington Primary Care Centre, Princess Ann Park, Washington NE38 7QZ Tel: 0191 5026999
West District Nursing Teams
Clinical Team Manager – Lisa Tate
Tel: 0191 5026426
Grindon Lane Primary Care Centre, Grindon Lane, Sunderland SR3 4EN
Sunderland Central District Nursing Team
Clinical Team Manager – Catherine Wharton
Tel: 0191 5025837
Grindon Lane Primary Care Centre, Grindon Lane, Sunderland SR3 4EN
