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Guidance

Pressure ulcers: how to safeguard adults

How to respond to individuals at risk of developing pressure ulcers, prevent harm where they occur and raise a safeguarding concern.

Updates to this page

From:
Department of Health and Social Care
Published:
16 January 2024
Last updated:
18 June 2025
Show all updates

  1. Amended links to the National Wound Care Strategy Programme website to FutureNHS website. Removed foreword from former Chief Social Worker.

  2. Updated the links to the updated National Wound Care Strategy Programme (NWCSP) pressure ulcer recommendations and clinical pathway documents.

  3. Updated guidance and appendices to reflect NHS England's 'Pressure ulcer recommendations and clinical pathway' guidance, developed under the National Wound Care Strategy Programme.

  4. First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Safeguarding adults protocol: pressure ulcers and raising a safeguarding concern

HTML

Appendices 1 to 3: adult safeguarding decision guide, body map and concern proforma

ODT, 82.6 KB

This file is in an OpenDocument format

Appendices 1 to 3: adult safeguarding decision guide, body map and concern proforma

MS Word Document, 100 KB

Details

These documents help practitioners and managers across health and care organisations to provide caring and quick responses to people at risk of developing pressure ulcers.

The guidance offers a process for the clinical management of harm removal and reduction where ulcers occur, considering if an adult safeguarding response is necessary. The guidance also outlines how the appendices should be used if a concern is raised:

  • appendix 1: adult safeguarding decision guide
  • appendix 2: body map
  • appendix 3: concern proforma

Pressure ulcers, which are largely preventable, cause distress to individuals and their families and create financial pressures for the NHS. While the treatment of pressure ulcers is mainly clinical, prevention is a shared responsibility.

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