Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the effectiveness of the National Wound Care Strategy Programme in co-ordinating wound care policy prior to its closure in March 2025, and (2) the potential benefits of developing a Modern Service Framework for wound care.

Community health services, including wound care, are locally commissioned to enable systems to best meet the needs of their communities.  No discussions have been held about the appointment of a National Clinical Director, and integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for the delivery of wound care.

An independent evaluation of the National Wound Care Strategy was undertaken by the Health Innovation Wessex and was presented to the Chief Nursing Officer and shared with provider and ICB Chief Nurses in April 2025. The Government has not made an assessment on developing a modern service framework for wound care.

Standardising Community Health Services, first published 2025, with further detail added in 2026, sets clear expectations of the core community health services ICBs should be providing that will help to ensure consistent delivery of community health services, support effective commissioning, and improve patient access to care. This included expectations for ICBs providing specialist tissue viability or wound care. Work is underway to align current data collections to the definitions set out in Standardising Community Health Services.

The Government has not made an assessment of the cost of wound care to the National Health Service, and this includes whether procurement frameworks reflect total pathway value.

NHS Supply Chain’s frameworks are not simply focussed on price, as they provide value through the provision of product hierarchies and Information for Clinical Choice to enable clinicians to make better informed decisions on the right product for their patients. In addition, NHS Supply Chain actively explores innovation and value-based healthcare opportunities with suppliers and NHS customers across its wound care frameworks, to deliver increased value across the patient pathway.