A district nurse who developed an innovative early warning system to prevent elderly patients from getting pressure sores is in line for a prestigious national award.

Carol Gill, who is based at Wilsden Health Centre and works for Bradford and Airedale Community Health Services (BACHS), beat 300 other applicants to make it to the final of the contest, run by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN), to find the UK’s best nurse-led innovation.

An X Factor-style vote will now determine who wins and patients, the public and RCN members are being encouraged to vote online at frontlinefirst.rcn.

org.uk/innovation-vote.

Voting closes at midnight on Tuesday, January 18, and the winner will be announced at a special RCN awards ceremony in London on Tuesday, January 25.

She was driven to improve knowledge of pressure ulcer recognition among staff in care homes across Bradford following an incident where some older patients with mental health problems developed severe pressure ulcers without nurses being alerted.

She found healthcare assistants lacked training in recognising early signs of pressure ulcers, meaning problems were often not reported until significant damage had been done.

Over 12 months, six care homes taking part in a pilot programme, using training developed by Carol, saw a reduction in pressure ulcers by an average 25 per cent. It helped improve patient care and comfort and saved money.

Carol said: “It’s common sense. If we know about pressure ulcers developing we can address the problem before it gets worse.

“This is such a simple model but has huge potential for being replicated. It costs the NHS £2.4 billion each year to deal with pressure ulcers but the human cost is incalculable. Given that 85 per cent of pressure ulcers are preventable the solution seems easy to me.”

James Cooke, general services manager for BACHS, said: “This award is all about innovation and leadership from the front, which sums up Carol. She saw an opportunity and developed something that can be used widely and save NHS money at the same time. I really hope she wins through as she deserves to.”