Diabetic foot: what’s the risk?

The NICE guidance (NG19) on diabetic foot care highlights the need for healthcare professionals to stratify the risk of each patient and ensure that the patient is aware of their risk level. The Flexitol^® Foot Screening Toolkit has been developed in conjunction with Donna Welch, NHS Advanced Podiatrist, Diabetes, to support this process.

The toolkit helps you to complete a comprehensive foot assessment by providing step-by-step checklists for:

  The questions to ask the patient.

  The visual examination.

  Classification of risk for your patient and your next action.

  Your patient’s next actions.

From the results of checklists and the patient’s records, a score can be calculated, which can be totaled to objectively and accurately classify the patient’s risk and actions as per the table below:

The Flexitol^® toolkit provides the methodology to deliver an effective, high-quality foot screening. The toolkit is not intended as a substitute for practical training but provides content to ensure all aspects of the assessment are covered and, more importantly, discussed with the patient.