Member Article

Bramham healthcare firm secures NHS approval

Autonomed, a Bramham-based healthcare products provider, has received approval from the NHS on LiquaCare, the first device to prevent diabetic foot ulcers.

Liqua Care has been made available on prescription for the first time and could save the NHS a projected £200 million a year.

Currently it is estimated that over £700 million is spent on diabetic foot ulceration and amputation.

NHS approval of Liqua-care orthotics follows “quite exceptional” results from a clinical trial carried out with patients at-risk of developing a diabetic foot ulcer. At 0.3% of the average cost to treat an ulcer Liqua-care could save the health service at least £200 million a year.

There are currently over four million people with diabetes in the UK and 10 per cent of those will develop a foot ulcer in their lifetime. A two year post-trial check revealed that none of the group had a reported instance of ulceration.

Duncan Stang, National Diabetes foot coordinator for Scotland who headed the clinical team said: “The results that Liqua Care generated in the clinical trials were quite exceptional.

“To demonstrate a 21.5 % reduction in forefoot pressures and a clinically significant increase in transcutaneous oxygen pressure in this group of patients was very exciting.

“For the sample group, of which nearly half had previously ulcerated therefore carrying a 50 per cent likelihood of re-ulceration within 12 months, these results were extremely important. To then realise that none of the group had a reported instance of ulceration two years later is nothing short of remarkable.

“We now have approval from the NHS for Liqua-care to be accessed via prescription for “at risk” patients with diabetes – this is a massive step forward in diabetes foot care.

“To have this clinically proven treatment which can prevent ulcers arising rather than just treating them when they have developed is what the NHS, clinicians and patients alike have been waiting to arrive for a great many years.”

David Watt, managing director of Liqua-care added: “We have taken a great deal of time and care to prove the effectiveness of Liqua-care insoles in order for them to be made available on prescription for people with diabetes. “A single foot ulcer costs the NHS approximately £5,500 to treat and the cost of one pair of insoles is one third of one per cent of that cost.

“Diabetes related foot ulcers have a high human cost too and with only 50% of sufferers who have had an amputation surviving for more than two years post-surgery, we need to do all we can to reduce the main cause of those amputations.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .