Mary Henry (Independent)

The Minister of State should put his best foot forward to settle it.

I was recently told by a diabetologist that virtually the only reason apart from serious accident or malignancy that a person in this country has a leg amputated is diabetes, and that is really dreadful. We have managed to cut down on smoking and other causes, and we must now get at this problem and make people realise how important it is that they look after their feet. They will have to be spared top-up fees and be able to see podiatrists more than twice a year. Once someone gets an ulcer on his or her foot, that person ends up in serious bother, being sent to hospital, which costs a fortune. I have been told that it takes at least six weeks in an acute bed before the person can be discharged. The Minister of State should imagine how many people he could have got off the trolleys in that time if he had managed to keep that person out of hospital. He can now make his name by doing so.