Stocking wound care in a care home
Fragile skin, high volume and audit requirements. Buying patterns look different from a workplace kit.
Residential care has a distinctive wound care profile: skin tears, pressure areas, fragile skin and a high frequency of minor injuries across many residents.
What gets used most
- Silicone-adhesive dressings, because ordinary adhesive damages fragile skin on removal.
- Non-adherent pads.
- Gauze swabs in volume, for cleaning and drying.
- Conforming and tubular bandages, to hold dressings without more adhesive on skin.
Buying pattern
Predictable, repeating consumption — which is exactly where buying by the carton beats buying retail packs. Work out monthly consumption per size, then order to a schedule rather than reactively.
Documentation
Wound care in a regulated setting needs records: what was used, when, by whom, and how the wound is progressing. Batch traceability of stock matters here in a way it does not at home.
Escalation matters more than product choice
Any wound not progressing, any pressure damage, and any wound in a resident with diabetes should go to a district nurse or tissue viability service rather than being managed with a bigger dressing.
See a pharmacist, GP or urgent care if a wound will not stop bleeding after ten minutes of firm pressure, is deep or gaping, was caused by something dirty or rusty, contains anything you cannot flush out, or shows spreading redness, heat, swelling, pus or a fever. Get help urgently for animal or human bites, wounds over a joint, and any wound in someone with diabetes or poor circulation.
Shop the range
FitMedix products are CE-marked medical devices intended for the care of minor wounds. This site does not provide medical advice — seek professional help for deep, dirty or non-healing wounds, or if signs of infection appear. Always read the instructions on the pack.