In 1989, representatives of government health departments and patients' organisations from every European country met diabetes experts and together issued the St Vincent Declaration, setting care targets for people with diabetes. These included a 5-year goal to halve the rate of limb amputations for diabetic gangrene. However, since then in the UK, the number of amputations associated with type 2 diabetes has risen, along with the increased prevalence of the condition. For example, in England between 1996/1997 and 2005/2006, the incidence of major amputations (i.e. those at the ankle or above) related to type …