A SPECIALIST in diabetic foot disease has been awarded £30,000 of research funding - which could help prevent patients from having their feet amputated.

Dr Simon Ashwell and podiatry colleague Emma Scott took the coveted prize at South Tees Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust's Dragons' Lair event, at James Cook University Hospital in Middlesbrough.

The competition, which took place for the second year running, attracted scores of entries from staff across the Trust, which were whittled down to four pitches from medics.

The four shortlisted researchers then put themselves in the line of fire of a panel of "dragons", led by Trust Chairman Deborah Jenkins.

The winning pair's research proposal builds on existing studies that show people with diabetes and kidney failure who require dialysis have a higher risk of suffering foot ulcers and leg amputation.

While this risk was well-recognised, Dr Ashwell said there was an "absence of published evidence on how to address the problem".

Dr Ashwell says his work has demonstrated this group of patients often failed to access the diabetes foot clinic or community podiatry services, as they already required dialysis three times per week, which sees them in hospital for several hours at a time - in addition to attending many other hospital appointments.

This "medical burden" means these patients often forget about their feet, particularly as they can be numb due to nerve damage, Dr Ashwell said, meaning they may fail to detect diabetic foot disease or get it treated when it develops - which can have devastating consequences.

But now, thanks to the funding, a 12-month pilot project will see Ms Scott attend the dialysis unit three times per week, to examine the feet of all patients with diabetes to detect any problems.