An innovative gel that facilitates the removal of damaged tissue by means of chemical debridement as an alternative to sharp debridement is now available for hospital trusts through NHS Supply Chain.
Chemical Wound Debridement Acidic Gel is used for topical application to a chronic wound to help facilitate removal of sloughy and damaged tissue by means of chemical debridement (the removal of damaged tissue or foreign objects from a wound) followed by irrigation with water or normal saline and the application of a suitable dressing.
The acidic gel is applied directly onto a wound bed, causing disruption to the biofilm and removal of the infection in chronic wounds in up to 60 seconds. The acidic gel works by withdrawing water-molecules from the biofilm, this desiccating action rapidly disrupts the biofilm, pathogens and inflammatory proteins in the wound.
Fay Allen, NHS Supply Chain’s Innovation Specialist, said: “In clinical trials, the addition of Debrichem to a standard care protocol was found to significantly increase the probability of wound healing. This product not only shows cost saving over a 12 month period in comparison to standard care alone, but also has many additional benefits to the patients quality of life.”
Additional benefits to patients included an increase in the probability of healing hard-to-treat venous leg ulcers (VLUs) by 75% over 12 months with the potential to reduce the total NHS cost of wound management by up to 57%.
Kirsty Wiggins, Category Manager for NHS Supply Chain: Infection Control and Wound Care, said: “Debrichem is now available on our new Framework Agreement for Chemical Wound Debridement Acidic Gel . We are currently working closely with NHS trusts to understand the value added benefits to improve patient care and the potential move from transactional savings to more value based savings.”
This product was identified via the NHS England Innovation Service, during the first stage of the NHS Supply Chain Innovation Process (launched in November 2021). This identification facilitated collaboration between the Category Management Service Provider and the Innovation team to bring this product to the NHS. This is the second innovation to launch after the Uroshield ultrasound device which prevents indwelling catheter blockages and infections.
