Improving diabetes footcare

Use the following resources and tools to improve footcare for people with diabetes.

Up to 80% of people with diabetes die within five years of having an amputation or a foot ulcer. Evidence shows that providing an integrated footcare pathway, with trained staff in foot protection services in the community and speedy access to multidisciplinary specialist teams, considerably lowers the risk of amputation.

Resources for your patients

• Guidance on diabetes and coronavirus, including how it's affecting annual foot checks.
• A guide to Diabetes and Feet.
   

Publications

• The cost of diabetic foot ulcers and amputations to the National Health Service in England, Insight Health Economics, Wiley Online Library (2019) (free, login required)

• Improving diabetic footcare: a guide for commissioners, The College of Podiatry, Public Health England (Updated 2019)

• Improving footcare for people with diabetes and saving money: an economic study in England, Insight Health Economics for Diabetes UK (January 2017) (PDF, 59KB)

  Download the full report (PDF, 1.3MB)

• How to: use root cause analysis to reduce diabetes related amputations, Diabetes UK (June 2016) (PDF, 205KB)

  Download the tools and templates featured in the guide.

• Adapting the Ipswich Touch Test to increase foot risk assessments at the Royal Free Hospital, Diabetes UK (August 2016) (PDF, 363KB)

  Download the tool featured in the bright idea (PDF, 42KB)

• Fixing footcare in Sheffield: improving the pathway, Diabetes UK (February 2015) (PDF, 258KB)

• Integrated footcare pathway, Diabetes UK (May 2017) (PDF, 435 KB)

• Putting feet first: six step guide to improving diabetes footcare, Diabetes UK (June 2017) (PDF, 668KB)

Essential reading

• National Diabetes Footcare Audit - Covid-19 Update (May 2020) (PDF,140 KB)

• National improving diabetes footcare conference report, Diabetes UK (June 2016) (PDF, 640KB)

• Commissioning guidance: footcare service for people with diabetes, London Strategic Clinical Networks website (May 2015) (PDF, 2.4 MB)

• The development of a foot protection service for people with diabetes, Diabetes on the Net website (2015) (free, login required)

• Best practice renal foot care guidance, London Strategic Clinical Networks website (November 2015)

• Footcare for people with diabetes: the economic case for change, NHS Diabetes (March 2012) (PDF, 9.6MB)

Shared practice examples

• Patient Feedback: Wessex Peer Review of Foot Care Services and Pathway for People with Diabetes (March 2019) (PDF, 614KB)

• Using root cause analysis to improve footcare, Diabetes Update (August 2016) (PDF, 3.5MB)

• Training non-podiatrists to assess foot risk as part of an integrated foot service, NICE website (February 2016)

• Check, protect, refer (CPR) for feet, Diabetes on the Net website (2014) (free, login required)

Resources

• Diabetic foot screening apps, The College of Podiatry website

• Inpatient foot check tool, Sheffield NHS Foundation Trust (PDF, 74KB)

• Footcare pathway, Sheffield NHS Foundation Trust (PowerPoint, 96KB)

• Diabetes primary care footcare pathway, Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Clinical Network website

• Diabetes footcare activity profiles, Public Health England website

• National diabetes footcare audit, HSCIC website

E-learning

• Foot risk awareness and management education (FRAME), FRAME website (free)

• Online foot screening programme, Cheshire and Merseyside Strategic Clinical Network website (free)

• Diabetes foot screening video, NHS England, YouTube website