2.7 Pressure Ulcers

An integrated pressure ulcer safeguarding pathway has been developed aimed to support frontline staff in their local decision making to determine if the development of a pressure ulcer is a sign of abuse or neglect. This can be found in Appendix Five. The pathway is to be referred to in all instances when a pressure ulcer has developed and there is reason to believe that abuse or neglect may have contributed.

If a pressure ulcer is believed to have been caused by abuse or neglect (categories can be found here) a safeguarding concern must be raised to the Local Authority.

In addition to the safeguarding process the NHS will use the Serious Incident (SI) Framework (detailed in section 2.8) to investigate pressure ulcers, when there is a concern, pressure ulcers may have developed within an NHS setting.