The functional unit for diabetic foot patients at Figueres Hospital, a project of the Girona Hospital Network (Xarxa Hospitalària de Girona), is now operational. This unit integrates professionals from Complex Wound Care Nursing, Podiatry, Traumatology, General Surgery, Vascular Surgery, Endocrinology, and Infectious Diseases, with support from Rehabilitation and Plastic Surgery.
The team works in coordination with Primary Care centers in Alt Empordà, the Emergency Department, and the Inpatient wards of the Figueres hospital. Diabetic foot is a serious complication of diabetes that can lead to ulcerations and amputations.
Operational since May, the unit has already treated 6 patients and performed 74 procedures. Its main objectives are to ensure specialized, accessible, and close care, improving clinical outcomes and reducing amputations. This initiative is also being implemented in other network hospitals like Santa Caterina, with plans to extend it to Palamós and Olot.
Professionals meet every Friday from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM. A special session from 9:00 AM to 10:00 AM is dedicated to initial consultations, where all specialties agree on the treatment plan. Subsequently, until 2:00 PM, follow-up visits are conducted for patients requiring ongoing care. The aim is for patients, once stabilized, to continue treatment in Primary Care, as explained by Daniel Arribas, the Hospital's Surgical Director.
The unit is staffed by nurses Patricia Santa and Montse Guitart, podiatrist Maise Cunill, vascular surgeon Julio Sepúlveda, general surgeons María Cecilia Fontanilla and David Ángel Morales, internal medicine doctors Jorge Damián Rodríguez (Infectious Diseases) and Maria Valeria Vittolo (Endocrinology), and traumatologists Neus Vilabrú and Mercè Oliveras, who coordinate the service.
This project is part of the Girona Hospital Network (XHG), established in April 2024 to integrate and ensure equity in the Girona healthcare system, promoting collaboration between hospitals to prevent unnecessary patient travel. The XHG has also facilitated the expansion of the Angiology and Vascular Surgery Service to Figueres Hospital and Olot Hospital.
