The Forth Valley Tissue Viability Service is a nurse lead specialist support and advisory service.

The Team do not manage a caseload of patients. The Service will work with all healthcare staff in all aspects of the prevention and management of acute and chronic wounds, with specific focus on those patients with complex and/or problematic wounds. This will be supported through educational programmes, policy development and implementation of national and local initiatives.

The aim of the Tissue Viability Service is to guide and support clinicians to provide holistic and evidence-based care by facilitating a high standard of practice throughout NHS Forth Valley including Acute, community hospitals, community, health centres, care homes and prisons.

What is Tissue Viability?

Working directly with patients and health care professionals, the Tissue Viability Service provides clinical expertise and advice on both wound prevention and wound healing.

Our overall goal is to ensure that any patient, who has an active wound or at risk of developing wounds, receives the optimum care to enable effective healing and prevention or recurrence.

We do this either through specialist assessment and treatment plans and/ or educating the workforce to ensure assessment and care are provided in line with national best practice.

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When would you need referring?

The Service is to aid and support all healthcare professionals who are involved in the management of:

• Complex wounds – chronic non healing wounds, surgical wounds.
• Pressure ulcers, Grade 3 and above
• Malignant wounds
• Leg Ulcers
• Chronic oedema
• Wounds requiring conservative sharp debridement
• Equipment needs of wound care patients

Not all patients who have a wound will require specialist advice from the Tissue Viability Service.

You may need support of the service if you:

• Have had a non-healing wound for more than six weeks
• Are concerned about a rapidly deteriorating wound despite treatment
• Notice damage to you skin caused by prolonged periods of sitting or lying down known as pressure damage. For example: sore or painful, red or black areas of skin over vulnerable areas such as bony prominences.

Please contact your primary health professional, such as your GP or Nurse, to discuss if referral to our service might be appropriate.

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Referral Process

NHS Referrals (Staff Only): Tissue Viability Referrals

Care home referrals: Care Home Tissue Viability Referral Form

• Service Specification
• Consent for Wound Photography

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What does the service provide?

Upon the receipt of the referral, and in discussion with your main health care professional, we undertake a specialist nursing assessment.

In many cases we can offer them specialist advice and management plan to your nurse over the phone, or via email, without face-to-face consultation.

Sometimes it may be appropriate for us to visit in which case we would arrange to see you with a health care professional that referred you to us.

We are based at Falkirk Community Hospital, but our service can be provided to patients in their own homes, community hospitals, GP surgeries, care homes or prisons throughout Forth Valley.

There may be no further need for our service following the initial assessment and advice.

At times however it may be appropriate for us to remain in contact and undertake further reviews. This will be discussed and agreed with you.