Physicians
For physicians and general practitioners who see diabetic patients daily and rarely examine their feet.
Key Takeaways
- Physicians see diabetic patients earliest and most frequently.
- Simple screening at that level prevents more amputations than any surgical service.
- Early ulcers are far easier to treat than established ones.
- Clear referral thresholds matter as much as treatment skills.
Why Does Primary Level Care Matter Most?
Because of when patients are seen. By the time someone reaches a specialist foot centre, the ulcer is usually weeks or months old, infection may be established, and options have narrowed. The same patient sat in a physician's clinic repeatedly during the years before that.
Screening at that stage costs minutes and prevents outcomes that later cost limbs.
What Would Your Service Include?
- Foot examination as part of routine diabetes review
- Neuropathy and pulse testing with simple equipment
- Risk categorisation and appropriate review intervals
- Patient education on daily checks and footwear
- Treatment of early superficial ulcers
- Clear thresholds for urgent referral
What Should Be Referred and When?
This is where structure matters most. Deep ulcers, exposed bone, spreading infection, absent pulses, a hot swollen foot without a wound, and any ulcer not improving within two weeks all need onward referral, several of them the same day.
Knowing those thresholds precisely is what prevents the two situations that cost limbs, namely referring too late and treating beyond your setting's capability.
What Support Is Provided?
Training, protocols, screening equipment guidance and direct clinical access for advice on difficult cases. Referred patients return to you for continuing care rather than being absorbed elsewhere, which matters for the practice relationship.
Training runs through EDFC Academy.
What Are the Commercial Terms?
Requirements at this level are modest compared with a surgical centre. Arrangements are discussed individually and confirmed in writing before commitment.
What Does This Change for Your Patients?
Chiefly the timeline. A patient whose neuropathy is identified during a routine review gets protective footwear and education years before any wound appears, and many of them simply never develop one.
For those who do, an ulcer caught in its first week is a straightforward problem. The same ulcer six weeks later, with infection tracking into the foot, is an entirely different clinical situation, and the difference is almost always who looked and when.