Monitoring patterns and quality of care for people diagnosed with venous leg ulcers: the argument for a national venous leg ulcer registry

Despite progress in the last two decades, chronic venous disease remains understudied and severely underestimated for its effect on public health. Venous leg ulcers (VLUs) are a common and costly problem worldwide. The burden of VLUs is expected to rise with an ageing population and the growing epidemic of diabetes and obesity, which coupled with chronic venous insufficiency (CVI) will reduce quality of life and increase health care costs. The main treatment for VLUs is a firm compression bandage to aid venous return. Variation in assessment, diagnosis and management of VLUs may mean delayed diagnosis, overuse of antibiotics and insufficient or inadequate use of compression therapy. Given the variation of care and the need to improve management of people with VLUs, there is an urgent need to develop and test clinical indicators to measure VLU outcomes. Significant variations predispose clinical practice that may not follow best practice guidelines. There is a need to monitor patterns and quality of care for people diagnosed with VLUs in Australia. The rationale for establishing a clinical quality registry is to improve quality and safety of care.