Improving patient outcomes - video transcript
Manjeet: Within podiatry, we know that every, I think it's every 30 seconds or something worldwide there’s an amputation happening as a result of potentially a diabetic foot. Now it’s obviously not just diabetic feet that podiatry within Queensland Health deal with. We deal with all aspects of high-risk feet, not just diabetes but ultimately, I think when you hear figures like that, and ultimately, we can potentially prevent those amputations from happening. Then I think from that point of view, you know what better feeling do you get when you can potentially help this patient's foot wound not go to, fair enough, it might be a minor amputation or more major amputation, regardless, to me, it's the best feeling.
Zoe: You’re still giving them the opportunity to do what they want to do – to get them back out to their activity, whether that's their sport or their job. To keep them active, longer than they would otherwise.
Manjeet: Yeah, yeah definitely. And for some people they say yeah, that does support reducing costs to the hospital and although that's true, that's not what we're thinking at that point in time, but we do know that by preventing amputations, we’re preventing hospital admissions, which then ultimately does support the reduction in hospital costs. But yeah, the first and foremost aspect is that you’re getting that patient what they deserve and that’s to have a foot that’s intact, that’s for sure. There’s definitely patients who are you know, going to be here long term and they do become your family. And I think even admin staff say that, you know we can get upset. Sadly, when some patients do pass on, and it is because they have shared a lot of their lives with you. We know in the job that we do that the patients that we're seeing are kind of that high-end level of poor health care that sometimes that is inevitable, but it’s still a shame, you know when it happens. But I suppose for us, if you've made that difference and they’ve felt good in that time they've been coming to see us, then we've done a good thing.
Zoe: And even with the amputation, you get patients that probably would've had amputations much earlier that have months to talk to us about what it would mean for them in the future when they eventually make the decisions to have the amputation. I think they're a bit more confident, more comfortable in themselves in the end, than someone that's just had it done in emergency over the weekend, because they haven't seen anyone.
Manjeet: That’s right. Yeah because they will value what you've given them, and they’ve built that trust with you as well.
Zoe: And hopefully that’s going to prevent more in the future because they've been educated on how to prevent it, hopefully.
Manjeet: Yeah, and they share that information with other people. Because patients talk and ultimately, you know if they're sharing that advice, then that can only be a good thing, so hopefully prevent other cases developing.
