PETER McAuley is on a mission to encourage other men in particular to see a doctor, after being diagnosed with diabetes and getting the toes on his right foot amputated.
Peter, originally from Ballymena, but based in Belfast since the 1970s is a former Stormont health department official, who uses Beech Hall Wellbeing and Treatment Centre in Andytown and other community care centres for feet care wherever appointments are available.
“Beech Hall is lovely,” the 66-year-old told this newspaper. “They all are.”
Peter believes the support he gets from the health service is second to none.
“I have been going to podiatry since 2013 when I was diagnosed with diabetes,” he said. “They reckon I had had it for about five years. I was ignoring the signs.
“Looking back on it I had all the classic symptoms of diabetes but didn’t read them.
“I was tired all the time, thirsty all the time, I had blurred vision and I was losing weight, which was unheard of as a 20 stone ex-rugby player and suddenly my trousers were sliding around my knees.”
Peter got his big toe removed and being told he could have lost the leg, or part of it, was the health wake up call he needed.
The next year another of Peter’s toe was removed and this year he had his final three toes taken off his right foot, and specially made hospital issue shoes to help him.
“There are no toes on the right foot,” Peter said.
“The ones on the left foot are a funny shape, some of them.”
Peter can walk fine but when standing for any period requires something to lean or hold on to.
He retired four years ago and now volunteers as a health speaker sharing his lived experience.
Peter McAuley
“Sometimes it is an awareness issue with people,” Peter said. “I don’t think I can really describe the difference podiatry has made to my life.
“It always stuck with me that if it wasn’t for podiatrists I would have lost part of my leg.
People don’t appreciate the difference these people can make.”
Peter added: “I think it is men to a great degree.
“My mother was back and forward to the doctor all the time but I think I remember my father going to the doctor once, and even before he was diagnosed with cancer he told me he knew he had cancer. He was taken into hospital two weeks before he died.”
Peter says “it’s a man thing” that needs to stop.
“I had ‘white coat syndrome’. I just didn’t go to doctors…and now I am coming down with them.
“After my first operation, between the Ulster and the Royal, they decided I was ready to go home and they wanted to assign a district nurse. I didn’t have a GP to tell them about.
“The last time I had seen a GP was in 1984 when I was going to the Far East and needed a couple of injections.
“Literally before I could get out of hospital I had to phone around and get a local GP to take me on their books so they could assign me a district nurse to come and dress my foot.
“I never went to a doctor. It is different now. I am there on a regular basis.
“Before I wouldn’t have been next nor near one, and a lot of men are like that. I don’t know if they see it as a sign of weakness or what.”
Petrina Gallagher
Petrina Gallagher is an advanced podiatrist based at Beech Hall in Andersonstown, which supports the aims of the neighbourhood care model by delivering care close to people’s homes.
“The focus is very much about keeping people well, independent and connected to their communities,” she said.
She has been working for the Belfast Trust for more than 25 years and is part of the team helping people with diabetic food screening and risk assessment, ulcer and wound management, nail surgery, circulatory issues, biomechanical assessments, foot pain management, administering orthotics or insoles, and rheumatology footcare, among other concerns.
Petrina talks about the ACT Now initiative which is a new regional campaign with information cards about diabetes recognition available at GP surgeries, pharmacies and community groups.
“We are asking people to act quickly to prevent serious complications, and also raise awareness about diabetes related foot emergencies,” she said.
Beech Hall brings community care to West Belfast under one roof.
From district nursing and dietetics to occupational therapy and older people’s services, it provides a wide range of services for people living in the area.
It is one of seven wellbeing and treatment centres across the Belfast Trust area, and also serves as a hub for physiotherapy, occupational therapy, health visiting, sexual and reproductive healthcare, and speech and language therapy, among many other services.
For more about Beech Hall visit https://belfasttrust.hscni.net/about/facilities/wellbeing-centres/beech-hall/
