Children and young people with lymphoedema: a project to assess the education needs of healthcare professionals.

Healthcare professionals need adequate preparatory education to treat children and young people with lymphoedema confidently and competently. This collaborative international project, based on existing literature and expert focus groups, seeks to identify the nature of that education need and in what format it could be addressed.

Running a weight-management programme with a psychological focus within a lymphoedema service.

Weight management and psychological health are intertwined. Patients in this context are often mindful of how to eat healthily and what they need to do to lose weight, but frequently self-sabotage, with external influences often impact any attempted weight-loss approach. Consequently, any form of lymphoedema management is also thwarted and vicious cycles between success and rebound occur.

Introducing the new Chronic Oedema Wet Leg Pathway.

Reticence to apply compression therapy has been widely observed in clinical practice, compounded by an absence of evidenced-based pathways for application of prompt compression prior to measuring ankle brachial pressure index (ABPI). Importantly, delaying compression therapy for patients with chronic oedema and lymphorrhoea causes many avoidable complications. In 2017, Lymphoedema Network Wales (LNW) developed an evidenced-based pathway to improve the management of chronic oedema and wet legs (lymphorrhoea) for community nurses.

Reflections on lymphoedema deployment into community services during the pandemic.

During the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, district nursing teams were overwhelmed with their caseload due to the palliative care needs of their patients. This led to patients with wet legs and chronic wounds deteriorating due to staffing levels. Therefore, the Swansea Bay University Health Board and Lymphoedema Network Wales teams redeployed two working time equivalents (WTE) into the community to take over the management of these patients with chronic wounds for 4 months.

Guidelines for managing people with lymphoedema remotely: a post-COVID-19 response document.

During the COVID-19 pandemic it was initially not possible to see people with lymphoedema face-to-face at lymphoedema services, due to the potential risks of the virus, because they were shielding, because of redeployment of rooms or staff, and due to sporadic restrictions of movement. The pandemic therefore accelerated adjustments in lymphoedema service delivery, while ensuring effective and efficient care was paramount. This document presents a pragmatic guide for lymphoedema services.

Taking a proactive approach to mild to moderate chronic oedema: a case study.

This case study demonstrates the benefits of early intervention and a proactive approach for a patient with chronic oedema living in the community. These benefited the patient and also supported value-based healthcare in the NHS. The patient's health and wellbeing significantly improved with an assessment of his chronic oedema and a management plan consisting of skincare, an exercise and movement programme and the introduction of a class 1 British standard compression garment.

The development of a 'wet leg' pathway for chronic oedema.

Chronic oedema and leaking lymphorrhoea can be distressing and challenging for patients to live with. This article introduces the Chronic Oedema 'Wet Leg' Pathway, which became an output from the Lymphoedema Network Wales 'On the Ground Education Project' ( Thomas et al, 2017 ). The evidence-based pathway provides nurses and therapists with clear guidelines to support prompt, efficient and effective management of all patients with chronic oedema and wet legs.

Pilot evaluation of the management of chronic oedema in community settings project.

Aims: The aim of this economic analysis was to estimate the economic impact of the On the Ground Education Programme (OGEP) within one local University Health Board (UHB) in Wales.

Background: The burden of managing chronic oedema can be considerable to the NHS. Developing innovative solutions to the care and management of patients with chronic oedema has the potential to deliver prudent, cost-effective and high quality care within NHS Wales.

The development of Lymphoedema Network Wales to improve care.

Lymphoedema Network Wales was developed in 2011, after receiving a £1 million recurring investment from the Welsh Government to implement its Lymphoedema Strategy. This article describes the creation of the network and the importance of capturing performance data. It will also provide information on the three programmes of work, covering service development, education and research, and innovations and technology.