Northern Ireland Leg Ulcer Forum June 2020

Due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation and in line with direction from the Department of Health to postpone all non-essential corporate or professional events, this conference has now been postponed. We hope to reschedule this event and further details will be issued as soon as possible.

This is a full day conference which will focus on a wide range of issues relating to leg ulceration.

Professor Val Edwards-Jones will provide practical and essential information on the importance of good assessment, diagnosis and management of lower leg ulceration. Whilst also discussing bioburden, chronic colonisation, and infection. This will be help practitioners to understand when good hygiene of the ulcers is sufficient, when topical preparation is necessitated, and when appropriate to use antibiotics.

The conference will be supported by speakers from the Public Health Agency and from the Department of Health. These speakers will provide an update on strategic influences and the impact having leg ulceration has on individual patients, families and society. There will also be shared information on the relevance of education in ensuring skills and knowledge is delivered in a safe, effective and timely manner. The impact for career development, recruitment and retention of a sustainable workforce in this specialist area will be discussed. Along with new changes that will help improve and develop the care of people with leg ulceration.

There will be dedicated time for networking, asking and debating specific queries or concerns as well as meeting a significant number of company representatives.

As a committee we would like to extend out congratulation to our committee member Vivienne Murdock who was a runner up at the BJN Awards 2019, for her work on chronic oedema. Vivienne has also done a considerable amount of work on the diagnosis and management of red legs. We are looking forward to hearing more from Vivienne and the work she has been doing along with colleagues from allied health professionals.