Abstract
Early identification of changes to the skin is one of the most important tools to protect patients who are at risk of developing pressure ulcers (Haesler, 2019). Analysis of the recording of pressure ulcers on a Trust’s Incident Management system (Datix) shows that Black and Asian patients have higher representation when reporting grade 3 and 4 pressure ulcers than White patients. Staff surveys were carried out to understand the impact of patient skin tone on staff confidence when managing early signs of pressure-related tissue damage. Analysis of these surveys show that staff progressively had less confidence in identifying early signs of tissue damage in patients with dark skin tones. This reduction in confidence is consistent across different staff ethnicities and across different levels of staff experience managing pressure ulcers. Recommendations for practice to address this issue based on responses from staff about what they think works in management and identification of early signs of skin damage in patients with dark skin tones have been made.