The National Diabetes Foot Care Audit (NDFA)

Foot Care AuditWhen the time to expert assessment by a specialist foot care service is longer than 2 weeks, the condition of the diabetic foot ulcer is more severe. Click here for our press release calling for more action.

On March 31st 2016 the first National Diabetes Foot Care Audit was released presenting the findings about treatment and outcomes of more than 5,000 people with diabetes in England and Wales who attended for diabetic foot ulcer assessments between July 2014 and April 2015.

The majority of these people (3,699) were referred to specialist services by a GP or other health service and remainder (1,516) self-referred to the service.

The key findings were that about 50% (2,302) of all patients were ulcer-free 12 weeks after their first expert assessment by a specialist foot care service. However, when 2 weeks or more elapsed between initial presentation and expert assessment, a patient is significantly less likely to be ulcer-free 12 weeks later.

  • Of the 2,029patients seen within 2 weeks or less, 50% were ulcer-free 12 weeks after the assessment.
  • Of the 911 patients seen between 2 weeks and 2 month, 43% (394) were ulcer-free 12 weeks after the assessment.
  • Of the 359 patients seen after more than 2 months, 34% (123) were ulcer-free 12 weeks after the assessment.

So basically the report concludes that when the time to expert assessment is longer than 2 weeks, the condition of the ulcer is more severe. The full Audit Report can be found at: http://www.hscic.gov.uk/footcare

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