The pace of change within the NHS is often criticised as being hard to cope with as staff are often under pressure to change practice on a whim. In wound care the pace of change is now greater than ever before.

My early memories of working in a vascular unit were of wound care more or less standing still. We put up with products which did little to help the healing process. Cod liver oil and honey tulle was in common usage but it seemed to do nothing but adhere to wounds, cause pain and make the patient bleed on removal. The use of astringent chemicals to debride was also commonplace and the long-term effects of such treatments were not fully understood.