Professors Jonathan Valabhji OBE and Gerry Rayman MBE have been unveiled as the keynote speakers at the first English Diabetes Footcare Network (EDFN) National Conference.
Professor Valabhji, NHS England’s National Clinical Director for diabetes and obesity, will discuss mortality and amputation rates during the COVID-19 pandemic when he delivers his speech.
Professor Rayman, Consultant physician at the Diabetes and Endocrine Centre and the Diabetes Research Unit at Ipswich Hospitals NHS Trust and joint GIRFT programme for Diabetes and Endocrinology, will talk about Getting It Right the First Time (GIRFT) during his online presentation.
The webinar will take place on Friday, May 21, 2021 between 1pm and 5pm. The aim of the event is to bring together leading footcare experts and Multidisciplinary Foot Teams (MDFT) to share best practice and discuss developments within the field of foot care.
EFDN Chair Richard Leigh, Consultant Podiatrist at the Royal Free Hospital, will open the event with a talk entitled ‘EDFN: Working to Improve Footcare in England’, said: “We are hugely honoured that Professors Valabhji and Rayman have agreed to provide keynote speeches at our first national conference”.
“We’re very much looking forward to sharing best practice and discussing the importance of good footcare in a bid to reduce variation of care across the country.”
The role of foot protection during the pandemic will be tackled by Podiatry & Leg Circulation manager Graham Holt and in the afternoon a panel discussion will take place where the participants will debate whether MDFTs should see all patients with foot wounds to reduce non-traumatic amputations.
The EFDN was founded in 2019 by a group of interested diabetes foot champions, Paul Chadwick, Mike Edmonds, Alistair McInnes, Richard Leigh and Christian Pankhurst, who all wanted to establish a network across England.
The aim of the steering group was to develop an English-wide network to provide a focus for strategic developments, share best practice and advise relevant stakeholders. The network then feeds into the national programme.
The network is currently a coalition of the 12 local Clinical Networks, relevant multidisciplinary health professionals and academics led by podiatrists and supported by the Royal College of Podiatry.
To register for the event, click here.
Photo by Nino Liverani on Unsplash
