Specialised burn care: Principles for service development and effective network working published

December 14, 2011

We are pleased to announce the publication of the Principles for service development and effective network working for specialised burn care. This report was previously described as ‘the model of care’. The new title more accurately reflects the content and direction of the recommendations made.

Similarly to the process involved in the development of the case for change, this report has been clinically led by a multidisciplinary panel of expert clinicians. This panel included burns and plastic surgeons, nursing staff, therapists and anaesthetists from across the region.

The report makes a series of recommendations and proposes clinically led solutions to improve service delivery and ensure the provision of high quality specialised burn care services in the future. These recommendations are underpinned by several key principles:

  • Patient centred care
  • Maximisation of access to services wherever possible
  • Provision of care as close to home as clinically appropriate
  • Service delivery through a network aligned to the patient pathway
  • Recognition of the importance of a workforce with the appropriate specialised expertise.

Key recommendations

Specialised burns services should:

  • Demonstrate compliance to relevant national standards and work collaboratively as part of a network
  • Provide age appropriate environments and ensure access to the full complement of therapy services
  • Ensure that patients are only kept as inpatients for as long as is clinically appropriate
  • Establish dedicated roles responsible for patient safeguarding and co-ordination of patient care
  • Ensure there is inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation available across the network for all patients, irrespective of injury severity
  • Be delivered through a clinical network.

The network should:

  • Help to ensure that patients are transferred or referred to the nearest specialised burn service in accordance with national guidance and in consultation with the local service
  • Support the establishment of nominated leads responsible for the dissemination of guidelines and standards from the network in each emergency department in the region
  • Support the development of standardised documentation including referral protocols and assessment tools.

In addition, it is recommended that:

  • Outreach services and services providing facility level care are developed to improve access to specialised burn services and provision of care closer to patients’ homes
  • Telehealth systems (including telemedicine and telecare) and standardised information systems are rolled out across the network
  • Central resource is allocated to support the development of the network
  • Decisions relating to the configuration of specialised burns services should consider service interdependencies, associated service requirements, strategic fit and the financial implications of service change.

Further information on the specialised burns project, recent publications and work to date can be found in the regular bulletin.

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