Professor Michael Edmonds

Michael Edmonds is Consultant Physician at King’s College Hospital, London with special interest in the care of people with diabetes complications. His work has had three main aims: firstly, to develop the best possible care for the person living with diabetes and foot problems, secondly, to research into the causes of and devise new treatments for diabetic foot problems and, thirdly to teach health care professionals about the best care of the person with diabetes foot problems.

He developed a novel model of diabetic foot care, the multidisciplinary Diabetic Foot Clinic, in 1981, to provide early, aggressive treatment of the various factors that contribute to the rapid progression of diabetic foot problems. The clinic at King’s College Hospital brought about a 50% reduction in major amputations in people with diabetes. This underpinned the St Vincent declaration which, in 1989, set a target, in Europe, of reducing major amputations by 50% in people with diabetes. He was Chairman of the Diabetic Foot Study Group (DFSG) of the European Association of Diabetes from 2001-2005. He won the Karel Bakker award at the 6^th International Symposium on the Diabetic Foot in 2011, the DFSG Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013 and the Edward James Olmos Award for Amputation Prevention in 2014. He gave the Arnold Bloom Lecture “The benefits of working together in diabetic foot care for the vulnerable patient” to Diabetes UK Annual Professional Conference in 2014.

He has recently jointly formed the ZAP Amputations group (Zero All Preventable) Amputations of FDUK (Foot in Diabetes UK). He is Chairman of this multidisciplinary group which sets out to reduce the number of amputations in people with diabetes. Michael Edmonds