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Man hits out at NHS for not cutting his toenails

Discussion in 'United Kingdom' started by NewsBot, Aug 31, 2007.

  1. George Brandy

    George Brandy Active Member

    I ought to say I rest my case....but I won't as in parallel it smacks of yar boo sucks as this is where NHS Podiatry is heading.

    Robert you still have me wrong. I don't have a problem with who provides nail cutting. Labelling nail care "social" is destructive and gives away the most fundamental of skills our profession excels at. Combining a nail cut with an overview of foot health creates a palliative and preventative tool to beat politicians over the head with. The more low risk care slides into the social sector, complete with low risk pathologies, the less powerful we are as a profession. This combined with a disunited profession thanks to warring professional bodies makes us even less of a threat to our present government.

    Nail care has gone from NHS podiatry but why should the over 65's lose their need, not their right, for a free foot check. Remember the SCP lobbying of Parliament re Foot Health Checks? Many MP's supported the cause? Have NHS managers supported the purpose? Free dental checks - but we can replace teeth. Free hearing checks- but we can wire for sound. Free eye checks - eyesight saved. Free footchecks - no chance. It just seems immoral to me.

    So its not a case of drawing a line but raising another very relevant issue.

    Yes, it is a very long time since I last worked in the NHS. I ran free from the shackles of employment in 1989 but I do come into contact with several NHS managers who have very different opinions to mine. Self survival. My comment regarding appropriate consultations with providers of nail cutting services was meant as sarcasm. I know - lowest form of wit. But when commissioning rolls out and our NHS managers have to create a budget, no longer given one, then it really will be survival of the fittest business heads. It will be fun to watch and see who survives the bidding wars. Will the punters have more power? Now there's a situation to watch unfold.

    I have had the best fun in years since you lot relegated nail care to the social sector. No loss of income my way. Fantastic opportunties for competition. Something I have missed for years. If I looked selfishly at the benefits you keep on sending to me I would say bring it on; keep discharging and make the private sector rich whilst we witness the demise of our NHS colleagues. My nail cutting service is the most profitable part of my busines, a cash cow from a beautiful rising star you sent into orbit a couple of years ago. You can keep all the high risk stuff and worry, keep sending the low risk feetinto the open market. Let the best win the market race. But you know me better than that by now...I view the bigger picture. I care about my fellow generalist colleagues who are still in employment, who need to be employed.

    Point taken about being the bearers of bad tidings. Not good for morale. Its one more nail in the coffin of redundancy too.

    So why haven't your managers competed for payment of diabetic checks from Strategic HA's? Hasn't anyone any balls anymore? Take over with annual footchecks for all over 65's regardless of health status and lobby the Government for funding. Sorry already been done. Where were you? Keep up Robert.

    GB
     
  2. George

    How would you define social care of feet then? My understanding is that social care is care the patient would carry out themselves were they capable. Sounds like nail care to me.

    Oh very dear. Fit business heads you say. We are in lots of trouble then. Oh well.

    A harsh but accurate critique. Sadly no, no one high up enough to count has the courage to create any more. Wanna know why?

    I used to be a good ole socialist assr and general firebrand. I wrote letters to people. I kept letters FROM people. I pressured management to admit that what was happening was a cut in clinical services. I tried to let GPs know why their patients were waiting so long. (Got my wrists slapped real nice for that one). I encouraged patients to write letters to cheif exec, mp and anyone else i could think of. When AFC came around i fought tooth and nail to get the work we do recognised to the point of threatening a greviance against the entire process. When cplNHS came around i rammed the employment rights act down the collective throats of the HR department who make fast and free with those rights to save money. Got to the brink of an employment tribunal on that.

    Snag is i am now known as "the little pitbull in podiatry". The only way i can get anything done (or stopped) any more is by finding the law, policy, nice guidline or other document and doing everything formally.

    Now put yourself in the place of the head of adult services. A management vacancy comes up. Do you A: give it to someone like me who was passionate about the service and who would fight to preserve it, B: give it to somebody who will do what you tell them to do and not make a fuss.

    The People who make it to decision making levels are the ones who do what they are told. Thats always "save money". Thats always "cut services". Its inevitable. The NHS is doomed. Maybe commissioning will finish it off, maybe it will be afterwards but it cannot last. T'aint nothing you, i or anyone can do. Probably positioning yourself under the carcass and catching the bits which drop off it will be the best business move!


    God this thread has turned depressing.

    Regards
    Robert
     
  3. Social care is a governement policy designed to transfer costs away from central taxation (NHS) to local taxation (Local Authorities). Most of this and other professions have been conned the 'nu Labour speak' - and like most of the rest of the diatribe, it's bullsh!t, plain and simple. Nail cutting, callous removal pathogenic or not - is footcare and as it falls within the realm of keeping us whole and hearty, it might even be considered under the general umbrella of healthcare. Whether we can manage this on our own or have someone do it for us is neither here nor there, except when it comes to defining it for the purpose of funding responsibilities. Looking at the news recently, I suppose we might even get to the point where tooth extractions can be given the label of "social care" too as there seems to be a popularity craze with self-indulgent plier-weilding housewives out there presently.

    Agree with you latter sentiments Robert. As with many, many other UK clinicians....been there, done that, still have the scars but long discarded the T Shirt. The NHS is a mess. It is going down the plug-hole. It is nether conducive to good patient care nor the long term interests of our profession, but as long as we - the general body of the profession - are happy to let our professional body carry on in the way it has done over the last 30+ years, then things will only change slowly, but it will be as you suggest, rather messy.
     
  4. I would like to say that thats is a cynical and wholly inaccurate statement. I'd like to tell you exactly why.:mad:
























































    Give me a few days and i'm sure i'll find some reasons.
     
  5. George Brandy

    George Brandy Active Member

    So when the Government is asked to take responsibility for loss of service to the elderly it can side step nicely in stating that it no longer directs these services but has given responsibility to the PCTs. The PCT's (Podiatry Services Managers) have decided that when foot care such as nail care takes place at home, it is personal care and therefore the responsibility of the local authority under the remit of social care. Local authority doesn't have the means to cope with the demand. It's a total mess and reflects badly on our profession.

    So there aint nothing you or I or anyone can do. Isn't there? What would happen if all Podiatrists continued to cut all toenails? Podiatrist sacked for 2 minutes of extra work? I think we've come full circle and it is back to the personal question that nail cutting is beneath Podiatrists and the chances of nail cutting ever returning to health care provision is about as likely as a :pigs: thanks to attitude inmongst our profession. Sad very sad.

    There is power in unity (and not in Trade Union activity as you have discovered to your cost) - from ground level and upwards.

    Thanks for the debate, Robert. It's been interesting but now it is time to head to Harrogate for the SCP conference and to invest in some nice shiny new nail cutting tools.

    Ta ta for now.

    GB
     
  6. cazfoot

    cazfoot Member

    Dear All,

    What about a paradigm shift – what are colleagues in the UK doing about self management work with clients ?

    How are you embedding the concept of work with clients to maximize their own self care potential and being an active participant in their own health care ???

    What strategies have you developed to do so ???
     
  7. charlie70

    charlie70 Active Member


    2 points struck me when I read this post:

    1) Why - when the lady was in hospital - had none of the nurses caring for her noticed her "black heels" or prevented the sacral ulcer? That's crappy care and yes, IMO he should sue.

    2) Most Podiatry departments have some provision for emergency care and a terminally ill patient with diabetes and "black heels" would trigger a big, red "SOS!" - in my local NHS department, we'd do our level best to see her within a week of receiving a referral.

    It seems treatments and access varies hugely across this tiny little country of ours.
     
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