A pioneering digital wound assessment app being used by community nurses at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust has been shortlisted for a digital healthcare award, recognising its impact on patient care and clinical practice.
The Minuteful for Wound app, developed by Precision HealthTech, has already been used in more than 3,500 wound assessments across 400 patients, helping clinicians identify deterioration earlier and intervene more quickly.
The Minuteful for Wound app uses smartphone imaging and artificial intelligence to capture consistent, objective wound measurements in a matter of seconds.
By reducing subjectivity and variation in wound assessments, the technology supports earlier clinical decision‑making and more timely treatment – outcomes that are particularly important for patients living with long‑term or complex wounds.
The app is currently being piloted in Woodhouse, Darnall and Ecclesfield, and is one of five digital technologies shortlisted in its award category.
The technology creates accurate, trackable records of wounds over time. Community nurses take scans using a smartphone camera, which are uploaded securely to the app’s digital portal.
This allows clinicians to view a series of wound images, tracking changes in size, appearance and healing without the need for further home visits. The result is increased visibility for clinical teams, improved continuity of care and earlier identification of signs that a wound may be deteriorating.
By enabling earlier intervention, the app has the potential to prevent complications and avoid escalation to more intensive treatment.
One patient who has already benefited from the technology is Jean Whiteley, aged 78, from Woodhouse. Jean used the app to track the progress of a long‑standing open sore on her lower limb. With consistent monitoring and timely clinical input, the wound has now successfully healed, highlighting the app’s potential to improve outcomes for patients receiving community‑based care.
More than four million people in the UK are living with chronic wounds, which can take months or even years to heal and place significant demands on both patients and healthcare services.
Digital tools that improve assessment, reduce variation and support early action are seen as increasingly important in managing this growing challenge within community care.
During the pilot, Sheffield Teaching Hospitals’ teams will continue to evaluate the app’s impact, including its role in:
- Reducing wound healing times
- Improving patient outcomes
- Enhancing staff experience and efficiency
Early feedback suggests the technology supports more confident clinical decision‑making while helping teams manage workloads more effectively.
The award shortlist recognises not just the technology itself, but how it has been embedded into everyday clinical practice to solve real problems in patient care.
Professional Head of Podiatry at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Saul Hill, commented:
“Wounds can have a devastating impact on patients’ quality of life and healing them quickly is a top priority. This is a fantastic example of the difference technology, delivered by NHS teams who are focused on what matters most, can make to patients and their care. If successful, the outcomes of the pilot could lead to the app being rolled out more widely across the Trust, so we are excited to be using our expertise to look at new ways to deliver care.”
Image credit: iStock
