Treatment for Leg Ulcers

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Treatment for Leg Ulcers

March 2013

A health economics report by KPMG says compression treatment for Venous Leg Ulcers (VLC) should be subsidised by the Australian Government to aid sufferers. About 42,600 Australians over the age of 60 suffer with the disease which causes pain, restricts movement and creates social isolation. Compression stockings and bandages reduce treatment time by nearly 20 weeks but are expensive and inaccessible to lowincome earners. Australian Wound Management Association (AWMA) president Dr Bill McGuiness said the solution may lie in a subsidy scheme which has the potential to save patients and the government money. “Compression therapy is an essential component of VLU care, with most wounds healing within the benchmark time of 12 weeks, nearly twice as quickly as otherwise,

“This means less use of GPs, community care, and hospitals, and a greatly reduced financial burden on the public health system,” Dr McGuiness said. The report highlighted a subsidy scheme could save patients $399 on average per year while the public health system could save about $6300 per year. 11 per cent of non-compression treatment patients required hospital admission in 2012-13 while it was unlikely for patients of compression treatment to need hospital care.

AWMA representative Ann Marie Dunk presenting the Senate petition on the need for subsidising compression therapy items to Senator Dean Smith in Canberra on 13 May 2013. Source: Australian Wound Management Australia

© Copyright 2013 Cathryn Kempe

Treatment for Leg Ulcers
During the same period the public health

March 2013

Dr McGuiness believes a government

system spent $10,700 on non-compression subsidy scheme is possible even with treatment of VLU, which is $7000 more than treatment with compression therapy. KPMG’s lead Health Economist Dr Henry Cutler said government funding of compression items is an investment that will lead to better health outcomes at a lower cost. “Sustainable health care financing in Australia will require giving greater priority to cost-effective care, such as compression therapy for VLU,” Dr Cutler said. budget restrictions. “We may not be in an environment for significant new health funding, but we have an urgent need for some smarter thinking on how precious health dollars are allocated and spent,” Dr McGuiness said. The benefits of compression therapy are recognised in guidelines across Australia and New Zealand while a government subsidy scheme for stockings and bandages has already taken place in the UK.

Compression therapy socks which will assist patients suffering with Venous Leg Ulcers.

© Copyright 2013 Cathryn Kempe

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