What price do we place on wound dressings?

摘要

The recent Department of Health (DH) consultation document 'Arrangements for the Provision of Dressings, Incontinence Appliances, Stoma Appliances, Chemical Reagents and Other Appliances to Primary and Secondary Care' (2005), has caused a stir in more than one nursing field. Aside from the implications of change in the provision of stoma and incontinence devices, the commercial directorate of the DH appears to have on its agenda the reduction of wound dressing prices. There is a discrepancy between the reimbursement prices for primary and secondary care, there is also a discrepancy between the additional services provided by some companies and not others, such as support from company nurse advisors, help with case reports, patient information literature, education (both formal and informal), to name but a few examples.