Improving Diabetic Foot Care: A Guide for Commissioners
What is a Multidisciplinary Foot Care Service?
The role of the multidisciplinary foot care service (MDFS) is to manage diabetic foot problems that cannot be managed by the foot protection service.
It should be led by a named healthcare professional, and should consist of specialists with skills in the following areas:
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Diabetology
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Podiatry
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Diabetes specialist nursing
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Vascular surgery
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Microbiology
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Orthopaedic surgery
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Biomechanics and orthoses
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Interventional radiology
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Casting
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Wound care.
It should also have access to rehabilitation services, plastic surgery, psychological services and nutritional services.
Delays in access to specialist inputs such as vascular surgery and orthotics increase the risk of prolonged ulceration and amputation.
Maria Mousley is a consultant podiatrist at Northamptonshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.