EUROPEAN PRESSURE ULCER ADVISORY PANEL

This issue of the EPUAP Review focuses upon two significant recent events – the Third Open Meeting of the EPUAP held in Amsterdam in early September 1999 and the new work groups established to guide future evaluations of patient support surfaces. The Open Meeting held in Amsterdam was undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable and hard working, pressure ulcer conferences I have attended. Held within the futuristic design of the Amsterdam Medical Centre, delegates enjoyed almost three days of new research data and challenging discussion sessions. The almost palpable enthusiasm of the participants certainly seems to bode well for the future growth and development of the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel. The abstracts from this meeting are reproduced in this issue of the EPUAP Review.

Following the development of the EPUAP pressure ulcer prevention guidelines, a short questionnaire was circulated to specialist nurses with responsibility for pressure ulcers in the UK. While this questionnaire will be described in greater detail in a forthcoming EPUAP Review, respondents considered that the major ‘missing piece’ in the guidelines was a detailed discussion of the role of special beds and mattresses. The last issue of the EPUAP Review reported a European meeting that discussed the evaluation of beds and mattress. Such discussions flowered during a satellite meeting during the recent Open Meeting of the EPUAP. During the satellite meeting three work groups were established with a remit to report at the Fourth Open Meeting to be held in Pisa, Italy next year. The memberships of the working groups along with the aims of the first working group are described in this issue of the EPUAP Review.

We have now entered into the second year of publication of the EPUAP Review and I would like to thank everyone who provided content for the first three issues. Once again I would like to encourage all members of the EPUAP to think of the Review when seeking to publicise events or to discuss their research and audit projects. If there are any issues you think the EPUAP Review should cover please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Michael Clark

Editor