The Joint EPUAP & EWMA Pressure Ulcer Prevention & Patient Safety Advocacy Project

Background: Pressure ulcers (PUs) are a common, costly, debilitating problem across all healthcare sectors, despite significant investment in education and training and use of human resources, equipment, and technological advancements. In recognising the persistent problem of PUs, the European Wound Management Association (EWMA) and the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel (EPUAP) have created a group to work collectively on a specific project advocating for the prevention of PUs to be considered as a major health care and patient safety issue. Aim: The overall aim of the project is to establish a joint EPUAP-EWMA working group on PU prevention and engage in patient safety agendas at the European level as well as at the national level in selected European countries. Discussion: We are seeking to place prevention of PUs as a high priority on the patient safety agenda within the European Union (EU). To achieve this, given the lack of agreed methodology for incidence monitoring, we advocate for the use of standardised monitoring of PU prevalence, with targeted prevention measures to reduce prevalence, made available across the continuum of care. Conclusion: Adopting PU prevalence as a key measurement tool across the wider health care sector in the EU, will ensure that both adequate monitoring of prevalence and use of prevention can be achieved.