Did you know that non-healing wounds of the leg and foot are one of the UK’s biggest health challenges? Despite this, conditions of the leg and foot do not currently receive the care or attention they urgently need.
Every day, thousands of people’s quality of life is devastated by the lack of awareness, prompt diagnosis and correct treatment of lower leg and foot conditions.
This can and must change.
The annual cost to the NHS of managing wounds is £8.3 billion – an increase of 48% from 2012/2013.
Guest J et al (2020)
There are 1 million people in the UK with a lower limb ulcer – that’s 2.0% of all adults. 560,000 of these ulcers are venous leg ulcers and there are 326,000 people in the UK with a diabetic foot ulcer – that’s 9% of all adults with diabetes. (Guest et al 2020).
There is a lot that can be done to heal wounds on the lower legs and feet but frontline clinicians such as GPs, nurses and pharmacists may not be aware of the most appropriate prevention and treatment options.
Our campaign signposts you to the information and services that can help you get the care you need or, if you are caring for people with problems with their lower legs and feet, help you provide the right care for your patients.
Someone with a lower leg or foot condition will encounter a number of people along their journey to diagnosis and a treatment – from the pharmacist, to the community nurse, to the GP and beyond. We want to make sure that every single person on that journey – including the patient themselves – has the information they need to take the next best step towards healthy, pain-free legs and feet.
Knees to toes: what you need to know (PDF download 383kb)
Source
All data taken from the Guest cohort study evaluating the burden of wounds to the UK’s National Health Service in 2017/2018: update from 2012/2013.
