An apparatus for cleansing wounds, in which irrigant fluid from a reservoir connected to a conformable wound dressing and wound exudate from the dressing are recirculated by a device for moving fluid through a flow path which passes through the dressing and a means for fluid cleansing and back to the dressing, and in which the cleansing means sits in the wound in use. The cleansing means (which may be a single-phase, e.g. micro-filtration, system or a two-phase, e.g. dialytic system) removes material deleterious to wound healing, and the cleansed fluid, still containing materials that are beneficial in promoting wound healing, is returned to the wound bed. Also, the dressing and a method of treatment using the apparatus.