EUROPEAN PRESSURE ULCER ADVISORY PANEL

Welcome to the latest issue of the EPUAP Review. By the time you read this, the 5th European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel Open Meeting will be taking place in Le Mans, France. It hardly seems like twelve months since the EPUAP last met in Pisa - perhaps this is because the various working groups established over recent Open Meetings have been keeping many of us busy! In this issue there is an update of some of the activities of the various groups - perhaps you may be asking how can you get involved with this work? The lead person within each group is identified in the progress report - contact them to discuss participation. EPUAP would encourage all members to get involved with the engine of the organisation - the working groups.

This issue also sees publication of the second part of Dr Gulacsi's article on Hungarian quality assurance activities related to pressure ulcers. This is a timely article for in 2002 the 6th EPUAP Open Meeting will take place in Budapest. We look forward to welcoming you to this historic city for what promises to be another high quality conference upon pressure ulcers.

Pressure ulcer risk assessment continues to fascinate members of this organisation - however, there seems to be strong, but divergent, views upon how this is to be best performed and evaluated. Earlier this year a working group, led by Tom Defloor (Belgium), began to compile a position statement to identify just what was EPUAP's stance upon risk assessment. The latest version of this statement is published in this issue, while those attending the Le Mans meeting will have the opportunity to discuss and vote upon its contents. For those readers who were unable to attend the Le Mans meeting, do not think that you have no opportunity to contribute to this position statement. Please forward any comments upon the proposed EPUAP statement on risk assessment direct to Tom Defloor.

E-mail to: <Tom.Defloor@rug.ac.be>

Please do not hesitate to write or call the Business Office at Oxford with any comments or suggestions for this newsletter. I would also encourage all members to consider contributing short or long pieces upon any topic related to pressure ulcers, their prevention and management.

Looking forward to seeing you in Le Mans.

Michael Clark
Editor