Blood flow assessment to the lower limbs, recently held in Ballina
Local regional Podiatrists and Medical students attended a full day seminar in the Ramada, Ballina testing each other’s blood flow in feet and becoming familiar with the use of the latest ‘in office’ vascular testing equipment and techniques in the morning. In the afternoon delegates moved onto testing actual patients, some of which had poor circulatory supply to the feet.
Local Podiatrist and facilitator Cliff Coleman said about the day. “ It is just excellent that in our region talented clinicians like Vascular Surgeon Dr Anthony Leslie, Senior Podiatrists, The Northern Rivers University Department of Rural Health (NRUDRH), a private medical supply company Briggate Medical and Northcoast Podiatry can come together to produce this update.
“The mix of lectures and ‘hands on assessment’ with actual patients promotes seamless care, expert monitoring and treatment for those Northern Rivers patients with poor lower limb and foot blood supply. It was great to see Dr Leslie present a lecture and answer all questions from clinicians for a couple of hours but also show some surprise at how much accurate monitoring occurs ‘in office’ in our regional Podiatry clinics public and private. “
On another note, recent research presented at the Australian Podiatry Council Conference on this same topic has confirmed the recommendations in Cliff’s Winston Churchill Fellowship and subsequent Report in 2002. “It is tremendous to see that my work is still being used in caring for patients in this year the 50th anniversary of the Churchill Trust in Australia. It was poignant that patients who volunteered their time for the seminar day to be tested, were also returned servicemen and war widows, the same type of giving people that created the Trust in the 1960’s. A big thanks goes to these patients and the facilitating senior clinicians who contributed their teaching time in an honorary capacity and thanks to Briggate Medical that not only supplied most of the equipment for the day but also flew their Podiatrist /Consultant up from Melbourne to discuss those very technical aspects of the equipment.”