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The cost of pressure ulcers in the UK
Gerry Bennett1, Carol Dealey, John Posnett
1Barts and the London, Queen Mary's School of Medicine and Dentistry, London, UK.
Insights
The annual cost of treating pressure ulcers in the UK ranges from £1.4 to £2.1 billion. This significant financial burden, primarily due to nursing care, is likely to increase with an aging population.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare economics
- Clinical practice management
Background:
- Pressure ulcers represent a substantial and growing cost to the UK health and social care system.
- The aging population in the UK is expected to exacerbate the incidence and associated treatment costs of pressure ulcers.
Purpose of the Study:
- To estimate the total annual economic burden of treating pressure ulcers within the UK.
- To determine the cost of treating pressure ulcers based on ulcer grade and complications.
Main Methods:
- A bottom-up costing methodology was employed, calculating costs based on daily resource utilization for optimal care protocols.
- Treatment costs were estimated per episode of care and per patient for varying pressure ulcer grades and complication levels.
- The study encompassed the entire UK health and social care system, considering patients who develop pressure ulcers.
Main Results:
- The cost to treat a pressure ulcer ranges from £1,064 for Grade 1 to £10,551 for Grade 4.
- Treatment expenses escalate with ulcer severity due to prolonged healing times and increased complication rates.
- The total annual cost for pressure ulcer treatment in the UK is estimated at £1.4–£2.1 billion, accounting for 4% of the National Health Service (NHS) expenditure, with nursing time being the largest cost component.
Conclusions:
- Pressure ulcers impose a significant financial burden on the UK healthcare system.
- Preventative measures are crucial, as the cost is projected to rise with demographic shifts.
- The potential for pressure ulcers to indicate clinical negligence warrants attention, with litigation posing a future threat to healthcare providers.
Objective:
To estimate the annual cost of treating pressure ulcers in the UK.
Design:
Costs were derived from a bottom-up methodology, based on the daily resources required to deliver protocols of care reflecting good clinical practice.
Setting:
Health and social care system in the UK.
Subjects:
Patients developing a pressure ulcer.
Methods:
A bottom-up costing approach is used to estimate treatment cost per episode of care and per patient for ulcers of different grades and level of complications. Also, total treatment cost to the health and social care system in the UK.
Results:
The cost of treating a pressure ulcer varies from pound 1,064 (Grade 1) to pound 10,551 (Grade 4). Costs increase with ulcer grade because the time to heal is longer and because the incidence of complications is higher in more severe cases. The total cost in the UK is pound 1.4- pound 2.1 billion annually (4% of total NHS expenditure). Most of this cost is nurse time.
Conclusions:
Pressure ulcers represent a very significant cost burden in the UK. Without concerted effort this cost is likely to increase in the future as the population ages. To the extent that pressure ulcers are avoidable, pressure damage may be indicative of clinical negligence and there is evidence that litigation could soon become a significant threat to healthcare providers in the UK, as it is in the USA.
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