Lecture by UK experts highlights importance of multidisciplinary diabetic foot care

The necessity to have a multidisciplinary approach to treat patients with diabetes was highlighted, yesterday, during a lecture on diabetes and diabetes footcare organised by the Ministry of Health and Wellness at Paul Octave Wiéhé Auditorium in Réduit.

A team from the University of Leicester Hospitals NHS Trust in the United Kingdom comprising the Consultant Physician and Diabetologist, Dr Sew-Chine Marie-France Kong Yao Fah; the Consultant Podiatric Surgeon, Mr Rajesh Jogia; and the Foot Lead and Advanced Diabetes Nurse Practitioner, Ms Rachel Berrington, shared their expertise and experiences with medical practitioners, nurses and students.

The key message conveyed during the lecture was that the large global disease and economic burdens caused by diabetic foot ulcer can be considerably reduced when evidence-based treatment is implemented by healthcare professionals and multidisciplinary foot care team.

Moreover, presentations by the experts demonstrated that early management is more cost effective and resource-efficient while late management leads to longer admissions and surgery. Early referral was identified as a key factor in preventing complications, reducing amputation risk and improving outcomes.

During the lecture, experts also pointed out that off-loading, which reduces pressure from ulcers, is essential for both prevention and healing. They underlined too the crucial role of appropriate antibiotics and surgical intervention.

In her presentation, Dr Sew-Chine Marie-France Kong Yao Fah thus stressed that worldwide, diabetes-related complications result in the amputation of a lower limb every 30 seconds. She remarked that people with diabetes are over 20 times more likely to undergo lower-limb amputation than people without the condition. Dr Kong Yao Fah also explained how early interventions can slow the progression of chronic kidney disease and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease namely through lifestyle modifications, effective glycaemic and blood pressure control along with the appropriate use of medication.

For his part, Mr Rajesh Jogia elaborated on the importance of establishing multidisciplinary foot care teams and outlined the various specialists who should be involved in delivering patient-centred treatment. These include diabetologists and diabetes specialist nurses to address optimal glycaemic control; microbiologists and surgeons to manage infections; vascular surgeons and radiologists to address ischaemia; plaster nurses, orthotists, podiatrists and surgeons to treat Charcot arthropathy; and tissue viability nurses and podiatrist surgeons for wound management. Mr Jogia also dwelt on the surgical and non-surgical treatment options provided, including the local delivery of antibiotics to affected ulcer sites.

As for Ms Rachel Berrington, she expounded upon the National Diabetes Foot Care Audit, which enables diabetic footcare services to assess their performance against the clinical guidelines of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and benchmark themselves against peer units. She further detailed the benefits and practical application of effective off-loading techniques, which evidence shows can accelerate ulcer healing, prevent deterioration and reduce the risk of infection.

18 June 2026

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Topics: Health, Bilateral cooperation