A DIABETES charity has launched a campaign to lower unacceptably high numbers of preventable amputations in diabetics.

It comes after it was revealed that NHS Swindon has a higher than national average number of major amputations among these patients.

Diabetes UK said that data from 2007 to 2010 showed the number of major amputations varied 10-fold between primary care trusts, and in Swindon, there are 1.62 major amputations per 1,000 compared with the average rate in England of 0.99 per 1,000 people with diabetes per year.

The Putting Feet First campaign, launched at the Diabetes UK Professional Conference 2012 in Glasgow this week, will highlight examples of good practice that have resulted in reduced amputation to encourage all PCTs to introduce them.

It will also demand that everyone with diabetes has access to the quality healthcare already available in some parts of the country, to bring an end to the ‘national disgrace’ of preventable amputation.

It is now believed that the most important reason for variation in rates of amputation is a lack of integrated foot care in people with diabetes.

Where amputation rates have been reduced, this has been achieved through creating specialist multi-disciplinary foot teams in hospitals and achieving very quick access to them in the event of any new foot problem.

The three-year study concluded that the high levels of variation in amputation cannot be explained by factors such as smoking or social deprivation.

Graham Cooper, regional manager for Diabetes UK South West, said: “A single preventable amputation is one too many and the number of amputations in Swindon is unacceptably high.

“We need to see an improvement in the way care is organised. More people must get the care they deserve to drastically reduce the number of preventable amputations.

“We need commissioners, healthcare professionals and people with diabetes to understand what care should be available, and for this care to be in place and delivered in a coordinated way that meets the needs of the patient, when required.

“Foot ulcers can deteriorate in a matter of hours so failing to refer someone quickly enough can literally be the difference between losing a foot and keeping it.

“Amputations have a devastating effect on quality of life and so every amputation that results from ineffective healthcare is a tragedy.

“We need to make sure that better healthcare is available and that people understand what healthcare they should be getting to end these high levels of amputation.”

For more information visit www.diabetes.org.uk/putting-feet-first.