Harrogate International Centre, 9–11 November 2009
It was no pain, all gain at Wounds UK, where both the conference and the exhibition placed emphasis on the principles of collaborative working and communication. Medtech Business was there to meet and talk to our readers in the specialist areas of wound, stoma and skin care.
Land of silver and honey
Wounds UK 2009, which ran in parallel with Continence UK and Dermatology UK, provided educational opportunities and personal learning for a diverse range of health professionals in an increasingly multi-disciplinary area of healthcare. Approximately 1,300 delegates (about 100 more than in 2008) attended to learn how wound care companies are working with health providers to assist with the management of wounds in acute care, primary care, nursing homes and patients’ own homes.
Alongside the conference, around 70 wound care companies used exhibition stands and posters to demonstrate and explain their products and services. Many of them focused on wound prevention, long-term care of chronic wounds and strategies for working with community-based nursing and social care teams. It can’t always be like that, of course: posters from Smith & Nephew described the use of their wound care technologies in the context of severe military and landmine injuries. However, the demographic factors of obesity and the ageing population both mean that the balance of wound care is shifting towards longer-term issues.
The high profile of NHS Supply Chain at the exhibition reflected the organisation’s growing interest in wound care companies. Five of the exhibiting medtech SMEs mentioned to us that their products were now available on the drug tariff and distributed via NHS Supply Chain. The specialised nature of wound care means that having a wide range of therapies to call on makes all the difference in finding the best solution for any patient at any given time.
The most significant comment we heard on the value of Wounds UK for medtech companies was from a representative of BSN Medical: “A 50-minute symposium at Wounds UK has probably done as much for us in promoting Cutimed Sorbact [their new anti-microbial dressing] as we’ve achieved in six months of conventional sales and marketing.” When asked why he thought that was, he replied: “Because we’re trying to re-educate a market that’s been brainwashed with silver and honey for the last six or seven years by larger companies.”
Walking wounded
The exhibition brought together wound care, continence care and dermatology companies in a common space. An abundance of models, both plastic and human, demonstrated a wide variety of dressings for acute care and for everyday life. Highlights included the following:
• New company Systagenix was raising its profile and promoting its new Silvercel non-adherent dressing with an impressive stand that featured tissue-like fibreglass designs.
• Mölnlycke’s Wound Academy placed detailed information about its Safetac dessings around the tables of a free café.
• KCI’s stand featured a timeline of the company’s 33 years in the UK, ending with the question: “2010: are you ready for our next big thing?”
• ConvaTec’s interactive terminals enabled delegates to explore microsites on the Versiva XC dressing and other products based on the company’s hydrofiber technology.
• Coloplast was promoting two wireless healthcare innovations: the OnPos web-based wound care procurement service and the e-fficient digital pen and paper technology for recording wound assessment data.
• 3M used a lifesize virtual mannequin to promote its new clear absorbent dressing, 3M Tegaderm (motto: “Seeing is believing”).
• Biosurgery company ZooBiotic was promoting its new BioFOAM Maintenance dressing to prevent re-sloughing and re-infection after wound debridement.
• New company Prius Healthcare was using Wounds UK to launch its products and services (including orthopaedic and hospital mattresses) in the UK. A Prius representative commented that the new Framework Agreement has opened up the NHS market to SMEs.
• EHOB, launching the new Waffle Foot Hold among its static air products for wound prevention, also noted new commercial opportunities: NHS Supply Chain supplying podiatry and TV nurses, who take the product into hospitals and the community.
Rise and walk
The extensive poster display presented illustrated case histories and accounts of therapeutic pathways, placing a wide range of wound care brands in the context of treatment in acute care, primary care, nursing homes and the community. The posters, usually produced by clinical care teams and sponsored by wound care companies, demonstrated best practice in collaborative working and the use of innovative medical technologies to address difficult problems.
One poster described the use of the 3M Tegaderm dressing by a clinical team that combined biological, social and psychological approaches to heal a chronic leg ulcer after 22 years. Another described how the Kerraboot (from Ark Therapeutics) had been used to facilitate the healing of a chronic foot wound by “giving the patient ownership of his own care”. A third described a “dynamic care pathway” whereby three interventions, targeted towards different phases of wound healing, applied different products (Versajet, Vista and Acticoat) in the treatment of severe neuropathic foot ulceration.
Seize the day
The Wounds UK conference also reflected a focus on collaborative working and improved communication between the NHS and industry.
Heather Hodgson, a Tissue Viability Nurse in Glasgow and Clyde NHS Trust, spoke on ‘Working in partnership with industry to improve patient outcomes’. She described how she put together an audit team to assess the appropriateness of dressing regimes across the Trust, which is the largest in the UK. The audit team included representatives from ConvaTec, Mölnlycke, Smith & Nephew, Systagenix and ZooBiotic. It established that only 33% of dressing regimes were appropriate to the wound, and that the Trust was wasting £78 and 200 minutes of nurse time per day as a result. Further work on both sides, with industry providing product updates and revised evaluations, led to a re-audit six months later that found 100% success within the Trust in choosing appropriate dressing regimes.
Hodgson noted that this important project would be rolled out to other regions and other therapy areas. She concluded that “the wound care industry can offer immense support” to the NHS in improving its standards of care.
Guest speaker Chris Moon gave a remarkable presentation entitled ‘Negotiation – a survivor’s guide’. This was aimed at industry representatives trying to sell to NHS managers. Moon’s views on negotiation were based on his experience of being kidnapped by the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia and released three days later, having persuaded his captors not to kill him. He emphasised the importance of understanding the fears and needs of the person you are negotiating with. NHS people, Moon noted, tend to regard industry people as “ruthless mercenary lunatics”. Gaining respect and trust involves breaking down that negative perception.
Moon’s inclusive sensibility took his presentation a step beyond the usual canards of ‘motivational training’. His key message is that influencing is about connecting, which demands your full attention and engagement. He noted that in meetings, you can tell those who are “not really there” because they “suck the life out of you”. He concluded that, in the healthcare industry as in all types of business, professionals are learning to “see the bigger picture” and look beyond short-term results to sustainable relationships.
