The town now has a new club – the Frome Area Leg Club.
The Leg Club is the first of its kind in Somerset and was set up to specifically to help patients who suffer chronic leg problems such as leg ulcers. Leg ulcers can affect people at any age but are particularly common with those aged 60 plus.
The Leg Club is based on an award-winning model founded by former district nurse Ellie Lindsay. Evidence shows that Leg Clubs, which operate in a non-medical setting, lead to improved healing rates by encouraging members to become more involved in their care.
Venous leg ulceration currently costs the NHS an estimated £400m a year and this innovative approach has been shown to be more cost-effective in terms of nursing resource.
The Frome Area Leg Club has the backing not only of the Frome Medical Practice but also the Friends of Frome Hospital who supported the club with start-up funding.
Dr Helen Kingston of the Frome Medical Practice said, “We are delighted to be supporting the Leg Club. The Leg Club is a demonstration of how working with our patients and with the voluntary sector in partnership we can provide care that is centred round the patient. This is one of the many partnerships that we have formed to empower patients to be better able to manage their health problems with support from the practice.”
Mr Peter Smith of the Friends of Frome Hospital said, “Leg ulcers can be extremely debilitating. They can take a long time to heal and can be very worrying to sufferers who are often elderly or living on their own.
“Regular contact with fellow sufferers backed up by nursing staff provides great support, encourages members to be more involved with their care and at the same time provides regular social contact which in itself can be a form of preventative medicine.
“Kate Wright, lead leg ulcer nurse and her colleagues are to be greatly admired for developing the Leg Club in Frome and we are pleased to have been able to provide the funds to get it off the ground.”
For anyone interested in finding out more, then they should contact their own doctor’s surgery. Further specific information about the Frome Area Leg Club can be obtained from Kate Wright at the Frome Medical Practice on kate.wright@fromemedicalpractice.co.uk
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