Retrospective Speculation and Responsibility in Pressure Ulcer Prevention in the United Kingdom’s National Health Service

Dados Bibliográficos

ID21059852
AutoresEls Roding (0000-0001-8293-1674, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, autor correspondente)
Ano2026
Volume45
Fascículo6
Páginas1-13
Data de publicação2026-06-22
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoMedical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0145-9740 • E-ISSN: 1545-5882
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/01459740.2025.2601671
PMID42329871
OpenAlexW7165568497
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas26

In the UK's National Health Service pressure ulcers are considered mostly avoidable, but they develop in large numbers. This problem is hard to resolve, due to uncertainty around which particular (in)actions caused the ulcer. I argue that hospital staff's practices of navigating this uncertainty are based on "retrospective speculation": the practice of assessing the past to anticipate and intervene on the future. In contrast to dominant narratives that frame pressure ulcers as failure, I argue that "retrospective speculation" provides space for hospital staff to reassess where responsibility for prevention lies in the context of high pressures on the health service

Health care · Health services · Retrospective cohort study · Service (business) · Speculation · Pressure Ulcer Prevention and Management · Stoma care and complications · Surgical site infection prevention