Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is their estimate of the cost to the National Health Service of poor foot care management.

The National Audit Office report The management of adult diabetes services in the NHS published in 2012, estimated that a reduction of late referrals to specialist foot teams by up to 50%, could save the National Health Service at least £34 million a year by decreasing the number of major amputations among people with diabetes.

The College of Podiatry has recently produced a briefing paper entitled The importance of podiatry to better health outcomes. They estimate that the cost to the NHS of poor foot care management is in excess of £1 billion.

The latest published National Diabetes Audit report shows that over 85% of all those with diabetes in England and Wales received a foot examination in 2011-12, as recommended by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence Guidelines for Diabetes in adults.

Within NHS England the National Clinical Director for Rehabilitation and Recovering in the Community and the Chief Allied Health Professions Officer are leading work to improve adult rehabilitation services including collection and dissemination of best practice. Good rehabilitation services will enable the delivery of new local models of care that improve outcomes, such as improving/maintaining foot health, by putting the patient at the centre of their care, and a focus on their goals.