Two Healthcare Assistants on Berwick ward at Eastbourne DGH have been trained to become ‘Foot Care Champions’, to screen patients admitted to hospital, with the aim of preventing diabetic foot ulceration and ensuring treatment commences promptly.
Mariel DelRosario – Matron, Sarah Wilkinson-Cox, Anna Edleston, Mika Dave, Tatjana Phillips
The first foot care champions have undergone their training with the intention of rolling out foot care champions across many inpatient areas of the Trust.
The training involves in-depth one-to-one sessions with podiatrists to ensure the Foot care champions have the skills and competencies to identify signs of diabetic foot ulceration. A diabetic foot ulcer is an open sore or wound that occurs in approximately 15 percent of patients with diabetes and is commonly located on the bottom of the foot.
Mika Dave, Acute Foot and At Risk Foot Lead said: “Berwick ward is a pioneer within the Trust for having a foot care champion role. The foot care champions will be completing foot screens on all diabetic patients admitted within 24 hours of admission. We are one of the first Trusts in the South to introduce this role which has been linked with better care for people who have diabetes. It is great that we are now able to offer this screening in an aim to prevent diabetic foot ulceration as foot checks are a requirement of the National Diabetes Inpatient Audit. This will go a long way to ensuring we are doing all we can for our patients with diabetes to prevent diabetic foot ulceration.”
Berwick Ward Matron, Sarah Wilkinson-Cox said: “It is important we identify patients with diabetic foot ulceration as soon as we can when they are admitted to hospital. Creating foot care champions will help us spot the signs in time as problems with diabetic foot ulceration can get serious fast. I am so pleased two Healthcare Assistants from Berwick ward are the first to undertake this training which will ultimately improve patient care.”