Agenda revealed for national diabetic footcare conference

An upcoming national diabetic footcare conference will cover hot topics including health inequalities, wound care and mental health services.

The English Diabetes Footcare Network has now published the agenda for its national conference on Friday, April 29.

The online conference, which is free to attend and is open to anyone interested in lower limb care, will see specialists share best practice and latest research as part of a drive to improve diabetic footcare and reduce variations in care across the country.

The event will feature keynote speakers, case studies, panel discussions, and presentations across the whole spectrum of diabetic foot healthcare.

The agenda can be found below, with topics including ‘ICS changes and the potential impact on pathways of care for patients with a foot ulcer’, which will be discussed by speaker David Thorne, Director of NHS Insight and Interaction at Mtech Access Limited and Development Director of Well Up North Primary Care Network.

Counselling Psychologist and Diabetes UK Clinical Champion Catherine Bewsey will talk about developing and implementing mental health services within diabetic podiatry teams, while Advanced Podiatrist Ruth Woods will address the first implementation site work from the National Wound Care Strategy Programme.

Derek Thomas MP, Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Diabetes, will join the conference to chair a debate, followed by Specialist Podiatrist Nure Alam who will round things off by addressing health inequalities and access to services.

EDFN chair Richard Leigh, who is a Consultant Podiatrist at Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, said: “We’re delighted to reveal the agenda for this year’s conference, which covers a broad range of informative and timely topics. The conference is a fantastic opportunity for those working in lower limb care to come together and hear the latest in national strategy, best practice and research.

“The EDFN was established to help reduce variations in care, and events like this provide the perfect vehicle to drive change. We’d encourage anyone working in diabetic footcare, or those with an interest in lower limb care, to sign up to attend.”

The EDFN plays a pivotal role in shaping national policy: a key role is to advise relevant stakeholders – including the Department of Health, NHS England, NHS Innovation, Strategic Clinical Networks and Diabetes UK – on all matters relating to service delivery and improvements in England for diabetes-related foot disease.

Book your place on the EDFN National Conference here.

The EDFN National Conference is sponsored by Dermatonics. The company has not had any input into the content of the conference, but will be delivering a short delegate address.

To join the EDFN, visit edfn.org/register.