MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE APPG ON VASCULAR AND VENOUS DISEASE – DECEMBER 1ST, 2020
Meeting overview
This meeting served as an opportunity for parliamentarians and healthcare professionals to discuss the ongoing inequities in timely access to care presented to people with peripheral arterial disease who do not have a diagnosis of diabetes, and explore the opportunities to improve lower limb amputations rates in England.
Agenda
Meeting starts
14.30–14.35 - Welcome
▪ Emma Hardy MP, Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vascular and Venous Disease
14.35–14.45 - Presentation
▪ Dr Adam Robinson, Consultant Physician and Vice Chair of the Integrated Care Division at Salford Royal Foundation Trust
14.45–15.20 - Roundtable discussion
Supported by:
▪ Prof Robert Sayers, Professor of Vascular Surgery at the University of Leicester, and a Consultant Vascular Surgeon at Glenfield Hospital Leicester
▪ Mr Nas Ahmad, Consultant Vascular Surgeon, Manchester University Foundation Trust
▪ Mr Robert Davies, Consultant Vascular and Endovascular Surgeon, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
▪ Prof Mohamad Hamady, Consultant Interventional Radiologist, Imperial College
▪ Dr Paul Chadwick, Clinical Director, The College of Podiatry
▪ Ms Wendy Hayes, Vascular Nurse Consultant, Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
▪ Dr Lorenzo Patrone, Vascular and Interventional Radiology Consultant, Northwick Park Hospital
▪ Miss Stella Vig, Consultant Vascular and General Surgeon at Croydon University Hospital
15.20–15.28 - Q&A from the audience
15.28–15.30 - Closing remarks
▪ Emma Hardy MP, Chair, All-Party Parliamentary Group on Vascular and Venous Disease
Discussion Summary
This event discussed the disparity in vascular care for patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) without a diagnosis of diabetes compared to those with a diagnosis of diabetes.
Participants highlighted a number of measures by which care could be improved, particularly for people without a diagnosis of diabetes, but also across the whole PAD patient population.
Clinicians spoke of the need for a “call to action” to push forward reforms and achieve improvements in patient outcomes.
The key issues identified were:
o The ongoing disparity in patients pathways between PAD patients with and without a diagnosis of diabetes were a serious structural health inequality that needed to be addressed.
o The need to ensure timely access to the complete suite of relevant health services for all patients with PAD, including swift referrals from primary care, access to imaging and radiology services, and rapid surgical or community care treatment as appropriate.
o The importance of establishing a baseline of integrated vascular care through access to multidisciplinary footcare teams (including podiatrists, interventional radiologists, vascular nurses and surgeons) as a national standard.
o There were a number of strategies which attendees expressed support for to address issues identified during this session, including the National Wound Care Strategy Programme (NWCSP) and the Vascular Society’s quality improvement framework (QIF) for PAD.