Public Health England figures show increasing numbers of amputations due to diabetes
Published:
The statistics from Public Health England (PHE) show that between 2015 and 2018 there was a rise in amputations by 14% compared to the period between 2012 and 2015.
The number of people with type 2 diabetes in England and Wales is around 3.4million, with more than 200,000 diagnosed in 2017.
Complications from diabetes such as nerve damage and reduced circulation causes the slow healing of wounds and if they become infected can lead to amputation.
- 4million people had diabetes diagnoses in 1996, about 90 per cent of them with type 2, this figure is expected to surpass 5.5m by 2030
- Type 2 diabetes is a preventable condition
- England had 27,465 lower limb amputations among patients with diabetic foot disease between 2015 and 2018, a rise from 24,181 in 2012-2015
- 7,545 of those in recent years were major (above the ankle) while 19,920 were minor (below the ankle)
- One in six hospital beds are occupied by someone with type 2 diabetes
- 22,000 people die early every year in England as a result of the disease
During the three-year period of 2015/16 to 2017/18:
- Patients from England had 147,067 hospital spells for diabetic foot disease
- The median length of stay in hospital was 8 days and the total number of days spent in hospital for diabetic foot disease was 1,826,734
- 85,837 individual patients were admitted for foot disease and 33% of these had more than one spell over the three years
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