THE creeping health menace of diabetes, and its devastating effect on people’s feet, has led a Cumbrian podiatrist to embark on a campaign to improve knowledge of the pathway to foot complications.

Every year, thousands of people with diabetes fall victim to foot ulceration, which can lead to amputation and early death.

Dr Judith Anders believes all too often sufferers can fall through the NHS net, victims of a system that is left “firefighting” rather than offering viable proactive support in the early stages.

Dr Anders is now embarking on a campaign to educate and support those in the Morecambe Bay area who have concerns about diabetes and associated foot complications via her Feel Your Feet platform.

“In long-term illnesses, people need to be supported and guided when it comes to the best way to look after themselves,” says Dr Anders, a podiatrist for more than 20 years.

Dr Anders believes encouraging awareness of diabetic foot complications can save the NHS millions and that her Feel Your Feet community is the way forward in the fight against diabetic foot issues.

Judith is hoping to pilot face to face advice sessions in the future and is hoping people in the region who have experienced a foot problem will contact her or the Feel Your Feet community to pass on their experiences.

She said: “Feel Your Feet is a supportive community that people can join anonymously and talk about foot problems. It is a source of information and advice - a pathway through the forest of ill-informed comment that surrounds both diabetes and foot care in general.

“We need to demystify talking about feet,” she adds, “take away the stigma. Hopefully, the fact that people as a rule are becoming more open and honest – just look at the enlightened attitude to breast cancer and mental health - will help, but it isn’t enough. There are people out there who desperately need advice and help who, for one reason or another, are getting none, and that needs to change.”