Surgical wound benchmark tool and best practice guidelines.

Surgical wounds that heal by primary intention are expected to heal without complication (Watret and White, 2001). Patients are frequently subjected to a variety of treatment regimens, often based on individual practitioners' preferences. This article discusses how one acute hospital trust developed a multidisciplinary approach to devise best practice guidelines. This was achieved through consensus and expertise of a working party, and a clinical practice benchmark tool for patients with surgical wounds to standardize and ensure the implementation of evidence-based practice. Clinical practice benchmarking is "a process through which best practice is identified and continuous improvement pursued though comparison and sharing" (Department of Health (DoH), 1999). The work has led to the development of a standardized assessment and documentation tool, which the working party hopes will be used trust-wide. In addition, ward staff are encouraged to undertake the benchmark process as a method of identifying areas where the use of this tool would ensure that standards of care could be improved.