Diabetes: Podiatry

(asked on 1st November 2016) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps he plans to take to ensure that all people with diabetes have access to a multidisciplinary footcare team at their local hospital.


This question was answered on 7th November 2016

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Diabetes Quality Standard is clear that people with diabetes who are at risk of foot ulceration should receive regular reviews by a foot protection team in accordance with its clinical guidance. The Health and Social Care Act 2012 places a duty on NHS England to have regard to the NICE Quality Standards. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) should also have regard to them in planning and delivering services, as part of a general duty to secure a continuous improvement in quality.

The National Diabetes Audit includes an indicator measuring the provision of access to a multidisciplinary diabetes footcare teams to enable progress to be tracked. The focus to date has been on improving access to assessment and treatment by a specialist team. The proportion of hospitals with a multidisciplinary diabetes foot care team was 60% in 2011, 72% in 2013 and 69% in 2015.

The NHS Operational Planning and Contracting Guidance 2017-19 announced NHS England’s intention to launch a £40 million programme of investment to support CCGs to improve the treatment and care of people with diabetes. This includes improving access to multi-disciplinary foot care teams for people with diabetic foot disease.

Reticulating Splines