Pressure Ulcer Risk Assessment Audit

This project audits whether people at risk of pressure ulcers are identified and assessed within the locally agreed timeframe using the locally approved tool, whether skin assessment and any existing damage are documented, whether reassessment follows clinical change or transfer, and whether an individualised prevention plan covering repositioning, support surfaces, heel offloading, nutrition, continence and device-related risk is recorded. It also reviews tissue viability escalation, patient and carer information, incident reporting, safeguarding consideration, transfer communication and follow-up.

• Nurses, AHPs, doctors and support staff completing pressure ulcer risk and skin assessments
• Tissue viability, frailty, orthopaedic and critical care teams
• Care-home, hospice, community nursing and GP practice clinical teams
• QI leads, governance and patient safety teams
• Supervisors and educators supporting ARCP and appraisal evidence

• Measure completion and timeliness of pressure ulcer risk assessment
• Assess skin assessment quality and documentation of existing damage
• Review individualised prevention planning, repositioning and equipment decisions
• Test escalation, incident reporting, safeguarding consideration and transfer communication
• Generate governance-ready and ARCP-ready evidence and a re-audit cycle

• Anonymous case identifier
• Inclusion / eligibility decision
• Anonymised context (age band, sex/gender recorded, care setting, pressure ulcer risk context)
• Clinical area / location and optional specialty / service
• Twenty-three pressure ulcer prevention criteria (met / not met / not applicable)
• Free-text learning points and any project custom fields

• Live dashboard
• Audit report (Word)
• Executive summary (Word)
• Excel workbook
• PowerPoint presentation
• Conference poster
• ARCP evidence summary

• Designed to use anonymised or pseudonymised audit identifiers.
• This tool supports, but does not replace, clinical judgement.
• Local policy, formulary and specialist advice should be followed.
• Organisations remain responsible for local governance arrangements.
• This tool supports documentation and risk-assessment review only. It does not provide patient-specific wound care, tissue viability, equipment or safeguarding advice.
• Risk scores, thresholds, assessment timeframes, repositioning intervals, equipment rules and referral or reporting triggers are locally configured and are not presented here as national standards.
• Avoidability, neglect and harm cannot be determined from audit data alone; local incident and safeguarding processes apply.
• Use anonymous case identifiers only — never patient-identifiable information.

Supporting guidance from the Lazomis QI Resource Library. Authoritative clinical standards referenced by this project remain separate.

• Quality ImprovementHow Many PDSA Cycles Does a Quality Improvement Project Need?This guide explains the iterative nature of PDSA cycles and offers practical advice for determining the appropriate number of cycles needed for effective quality improvement in NHS settings.
• Quality ImprovementPlanning Effective PDSA Cycles for Quality ImprovementThis guide provides a practical, step-by-step approach to planning effective Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles for quality improvement initiatives within the NHS, focusing on robust design and learning. It covers essential considerations from defining your aim to anticipating challenges, helping teams systematically test changes.
• Patient SafetyDiagnostic Delay: Understanding and Mitigating a Critical Patient Safety RiskDiagnostic delay is a significant patient safety concern across all healthcare settings. This guide explains why timely diagnosis is crucial, details the common factors contributing to delays, and provides actionable strategies for healthcare professionals and teams to mitigate these risks.
• Quality ImprovementPDSA Cycles: A Practical Guide to Testing Change in HealthcareThis guide provides a practical overview of Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles, a fundamental tool for testing changes in healthcare quality improvement. It details how to apply PDSA effectively, common challenges, and integration with broader QI efforts.