PATIENTS in Worcester suffering from leg ulcers are able to get help and support at a new weekly club.

District nurses with Worcestershire Health and Care NHS Trust are on hand at The Green Centre in Gresham Road, Dines Green, every Tuesday, offering advice and treatment for leg ulcers, chronic oedema and lymphoedema, dry skin and other conditions.

Attendee Norma Brown has suffered from leg ulcers for about three years and was previously treated at home by district nurses from the trust.

“I use Worcester Wheels to get me here every week and I just find the experience more convenient,” she said.

“With the leg club I know when I’m arriving and when I’m leaving.

“Coming to the leg club also means that I can see different nurses and have the benefit of different skills.

“My leg ulcer has improved a lot in recent weeks.”

The club, which runs from 1.30pm until 3.30pm every Tuesday and is open to patients registered with St John’s or Henwick Halt GP surgeries on a drop-in basis.

It was set up by district nurse team leader Julie Money, who said there was substantial evidence that leg clubs help conditions such as ulcers heal quicker.

“Patients are much more involved in the treatment, they learn from each other about things they can do themselves to manage their conditions and so the club helps educate people which we know makes a huge difference,” she said.

“On top of that nurses also benefit from that peer support and it makes the sharing of ideas and best practice much easier than when you’re working on your own in people’s homes.

“The clubs are run by volunteers, often from the local community, who run raffles and arrange other activities and so it becomes a club in every sense.

“It really doesn’t feel like a clinical environment and it helps deal with social isolation which is quite common when people’s mobility is restricted.”

The club is part of the Lindsey Leg Foundation, a national charity set up in 2004, and is run by volunteers and is the third of its kind in Worcester, with the other two based at The Tolly Centre in Rose Avenue, Tolladine.

For more information call 01905 681 907 or for information on transport to the club call Worcester Wheels on 01905 24741.