The economics of setting up a diabetic foot clinic

Though the combined diabetic foot clinies have been shown to be beneficial, very little is known of either their workload or the costs of running them. The foot clinic at this hospital has been established for five years and referral patterns and workload are now relatively constant.

Information was collected about all the patients who attended clinic in a one‐year period. Data about each outpatient and inpatient attendance was recorded to enable estimation of the costs involved in running such a clinic as a guide to those who may wish to set up a similar service.