Chronic wounds are becoming increasingly prevalent in the UK, with a significant proportion of patients being treated in the community. Given the pressures on out-patient services for individuals with wounds, the provision of nurse-led community clinics is increasing. Evaluation of wound services is essential to develop an awareness of where improvements can be made - particularly, although not exclusively, related to nurse-led clinics compared to doctor-led services. This article describes the development of a patient satisfaction questionnaire to compare the patient experience in two wound clinics located within in South East Wales using a cross sectional survey approach. 117 patients attended these clinics over a 4-week period, and 58 completed the questionnaire. The data showed that most patients in these clinics were over 65 (n=34, 58.6%), with the majority being treated for leg ulcers (n=41, 70.7%). Overall, the feedback was very positive for both clinics, with the majority of patients reporting a high level of satisfaction for both a doctor-led clinic (n=21) and a nurse-led clinic (n=22). However, while the numbers involved in the study were too small to determine any statistical significance and the results only present a snapshot of the situation, it is still clear that patient satisfaction rates between a nurse-led and a doctor-led service are comparable.
Keywords: chronic wounds; doctor-led clinic; nurse-led clinic; patient satisfaction; service evaluation; wound healing.