A diabetic foot clinic in a South East London hospital has been named after a doctor who saved thousands of patients from needing amputation, including former England footballer Gary Mabbutt MBE.
The pioneering diabetic foot clinic at King’s College Hospital has been refurbished and re-named after Professor Michael Edmonds, the doctor who established the clinic and saved thousands of people with diabetes from foot and leg amputations.
Professor Edmonds created the world’s first dedicated multidisciplinary diabetic foot service at King’s in 1981.
A consultant diabetologist, he brought together specialists in diabetes, podiatry, vascular surgery, orthopaedics, radiology and other clinical services to help patients with foot ulcers resulting from diabetes.
Former Spurs ace Gary Mabbutt said: “Mike is one of the most unassuming, modest and caring people I have ever met.
“The diabetic foot clinic at King’s is widely accepted as the ideal model of care throughout the world, which is something Mike has to take huge credit for putting in place.
“I sincerely hope that his incredible work at King’s can be replicated across the county to lower the 80 per cent of avoidable amputations in people living with diabetes.”
Professor Edmonds himself said: “I am humbled by the re-naming of the unit. The clinic’s success is a whole team effort and I’d like to thank my colleagues and Diabetes UK for their continued hard work and commitment in providing the very best care for our patients.”
Just two years after the service was first established, there was a 50 per cent reduction in patients requiring lower limb amputation at King’s.
This number has continued to fall over the years. The hospital now sees around 9,000 diabetic foot patients each year, and it has an amputation rate of just 0.9 per cent, lower than the national average of 1.6 per cent.