Diabetic foot ulcers are slow healing open wounds which will impact one in five people with diabetes (20%) sometime during their life with about 50% of those ulcers becoming infected.
The downstream consequences of these ulcers include limb amputation but a recent success story with our Diabetes Foot Ulcer Clinic has seen a reduction of lower limb amputations in diabetic patients.
The Clinic is based at Manukau SuperClinic and provides specialised care for patients suffering from diabetic foot ulcers. It was born out of the passion of key individuals who wanted to make a difference to their patients.
Through restructuring initiatives, the team has established new protocols and introduced a flexible scheduling system, achieving remarkable results.
The clinic now has the capacity to see our Priority One patients on time, and the attendance rate for first specialist appointments has gone from 18% an impressive 100%.
Podiatry Team Leader, Elson Ng: “By seeing patients in a timely matter, the risk of lower limb amputation has been greatly reduced. Our objective is to evolve into an acute service, aiming to provide consultations within 48 hours.
“We are confident we will see even more improvement in the numbers, and we are especially pleased that Māori and Pasifika patients are right at the forefront of our interventions.”
One patient, 58-year-old Afa Maiava, says he’s delighted with the care he got, which has probably saved his foot from amputation.
“Elson and his team have done me proud,” he says.