Secondary wound dressings: an evaluation of Alldress.

Nurses are increasingly faced with the need to balance clinical efficacy with economic advantages when selecting wound management products. Compared to 20 or 30 years ago the money spent by the NHS in the UK on wound dressings has risen dramatically. It is also true that the rise in costs has, for the most part, been matched by an improvement in product performance. It is, however, important that claimed advances in wound management products are assessed critically to ensure they provide both clinical and economic benefits. In this article the authors explore the use of a secondary wound dressing. Using a case study methodology, the authors have conducted an evaluation aimed at identifying possible economic benefits associated with the study dressing as opposed to more expensive alternatives. In the case studies observed the dressing has been found to provide the required level of clinical performance at a considerable saving when compared to other modern wound management dressings. The authors conclude that these initial findings merit further investigation as they could, if replicated on a larger scale, result in considerable cost savings for the NHS without sacrificing clinical standards.