Pressure ulcers/sores caused by plaster casts and people with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD)

A longer post, but please read through :heartpulse:

Pressure ulcers/sores caused by plaster casts – can you help?

As part of PMLD LINK’s work using the PMLD Standards to raise expectations and promote improved services we constantly seek out examples of great practice. However, all too often this brings to light the complete opposite – where individuals with PMLD experience inequalities and discrimination in the services and care they receive.

Recent examples include people being discharged from hospital post-surgery or with fractures, without any pain relief – often because of inaccurate assessments of pain and distress.

One concern we now want to explore is where people with PMLD have developed pressure ulcers under plaster casts – common areas are bony parts of the body such as heels, knees, hips.
We want to find out how prevalent this issue is for people with PMLD. We also want to collect examples of good practice and reasonable adjustments that actively respond to the higher risks presented by people with PMLD.

It is recognised that risk of pressure ulcers increases where people are inactive or unable to move themselves regularly. However most advice relies on patients communicating pain or feeling ‘hot spots’ as an early indication that skin integrity may be compromised. Clearly this will be a challenge in the case of many or most people with PMLD.

We would welcome your comments.
Thank you!
Annie
www.pmldlink.org.uk