About

On September 5th 2015, I will be abseiling 160ft down Guildford Cathedral to raise money for The Leg Ulcer Charity. The Charity's aim is to empower sufferers, their families, and their carers to better understand their condition, and ask for a cure. We want to raise awareness that if leg ulcers are properly investigated and treated, then the majority should be permanently cured. The Leg Ulcer Charity was set up in 2013 following research that showed 85% of patients, who had previously been told that their leg ulcers were incurable, were subsequently cured by duplex ultrasound investigation and appropriate endovenous treatments under local anaesthetic, as recommended in the NICE guidelines: http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/QS67/chapter/List-of-quality-statements. However, further research showed that in the UK, only a minority of leg ulcer patients have been offered such investigations or treatment, instead being treated with dressings and bandages that only temporarily get rid of the ulcers for them to come back again. Treating the underlying cause cures leg ulcers for good. Over 500,000 people in the UK have recurrent leg ulcers, and when family, friends, and other carers are included, this horrible condition affects millions of people every year in the UK. For many reasons, the vast majority of patients are never given the opportunity of a cure, despite the cure being cheaper than continual dressings and bandaging. Having leg ulcers cured permanently not only improves the lives of patients and their families, but also saves huge amounts of money for the health services, general practitioners, and district nurse services. Studies have shown that 50% of community practitioners time is spent treating leg ulcers.