The cost of chronic wounds in Australia is estimated to be $3 Billion per year, impacting 420,000 Australians. Not only is this a national economic concern, but more importantly, is the suffering the person may be going through.

Australian Health Journal met with Hayley Ryan, Board Director and Chair at Wounds Australia and Director at WoundRescue to hear her work in chronic wound management, palliative wounds and pressure injury prevention to comfort those living with a wound.

Hayley has over 22 years’ experience in nursing and has 18 of these in wound care during this time. Hayley has a passion for healing wounds as a Clinical Nurse Consultant across Australia and New Zealand.

She gave testimony at the Royal Commission into Aged Care in July 2019, through the Wounds Australia’s submission, on several topics including: wound care statistics, the causes of wounds, prevention of wounds, the use of appropriate wound dressings, substandard wound care, and recommendations to improve wound management within aged care.

In this interview Hayley talks about how she first got interested in wound management before talking through the current issues with wound management in the Australian health system. These issues include access, education and awareness as a health priority.

Hayley also talks about Wounds Australia’s 11 Point Plan. It has been produced to be a clear and effective blueprint for governments to follow. The plan draws on the knowledge and skills of Australia’s top wound care experts to dramatically cut patient numbers and the funds to treat them.

There is a goal in handling the complications of delivering treatment across primary care, community care, hospital and aged care settings turning into a more defined and streamlined process.

In terms of growth in specialist wound care knowledge in health workers, Hayley talks about the education and training pathways health care professionals can take, including through Wounds Australia, Monash University and Wound Rescue.