Diabetics’ amputation risks increased as NHS foot checks missed | Society | The Guardian.
More than 400,000 diabetics are at risk of having an amputation because they do not get what are meant to be annual NHS checks on their feet, campaigners are warning.
One in seven people with type 2 diabetes and almost three in 10 sufferers with type 1 are not receiving the recommended annual test of the health of their feet, claims Diabetes UK.
An “unacceptable” number of diabetics are missing out on the checks, despite the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (Nice) advice to the NHS that everyone with the condition should be tested each year, the charity says.
Its analysis of NHS figures shows that an estimated 414,784 patients with either form of the disease do not get the check. That is equivalent to 13.3% of those with type 2, the form of the disease that is closely associated with obesity, and 27.7% of people with type 1, which is an autoimmune condition and not associated with lifestyle.
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