NHS - Band 4 - Unqualified Podiatry Practitioner

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Can anyone provide info what these folk do?

Cheers

 

have you heard of Google?

http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore-by-career/wider-healthcare-team/careers-in-the-wider-healthcare-team/clinical-support-staff/assistant-practitioner/

 

they do basic foot care I think. Must be foot care health practitioner/podiatary assistant status.

 

Is it required that assistant podiatrists are HPC registered?

Dave Smith

 

Of course not. They are not Assistant Podiatrists, they are Assistant Practitioner-Podiatry !

Doesn't it make a nonsense of the whole HPC concept, It's not fit for purpose. Anything for getting work done on the cheap.

 

I have to agree with this sentiment ( as I expect is the point Lovefeet is making but I can't see since I've got her on ignore)

Same model as nursing really, the NHS lead the way in insisting on ever increasing standards and qualifications for registered Nurses then when they are fully qualified and working to high standard they get rid of most of the registered nurses and replace them with cheap imitations called nursing auxiliaries or maybe assistant practitioner - Nurse.

First you need the high standards and rigorous regulation, then you don't when it costs too much :bash:
No wonder there are many confused and bitter podiatrists in ( and out of ) the NHS.

Dave

 

Misuse of titles
A person commits an offence if, with intent to deceive, they use a protected title and are not registered with us. It is also an offence to imply that you are a member of one of the professions that we regulate. An example of this would be a person who claims to provide chiropody services when they are not registered with us as a chiropodist and podiatrist

Assistants, students and trainees
A person is unlikely to be committing an offence if they use a protected title with a prefix which clearly indicates that they are not fully qualified, such as - ‘trainee’ or ‘student’. By using a prefix of this kind there is no intention to deceive.

 

basic foot care, nail trimming cleaning and filing, corns and callous debridded and enucleated, ingrowing toe nails (sliver/spike of nail) excised, Tinea pedis, hard skin, cracked heels, verrucae and diabetic foot assessments

 

Agreed. The crux of the legislation is the area highlighted: with intent to deceive. Apparently you can use the title without being registered with the HCPC providing you do so without claiming you are an HCPC Podiatrist/Physiotherapist & etc.

 

Dear Lovefeet,

F:sinking:irstly my understanding the term podiatry or chiropody is forbidden to be used legally by any person advertising as a foot care/health practitioner.

Based on the website of Foot health practitioners in the UK, they appear to be offering a restricted level of service more focused on routine foot care.

Cheers.

 

Yiannis, but Foot Health Practitioners are different animals to Assistant Practitioners - Podiatry "

 

Joye thanks for your helpful reply.....where did you get the info regarding exactly what they do.....

Cheers

 

How could an unqualified practitioner be allowed to do diabetic assessment when they cannot make sense of what they are doing?

 

Caveat emptor - let the buyer beware.

Who is to allow or not to allow? It is a fundamental of freedom in this country (and in other parts of the developed world) that - within certain boundaries - you can buy what you like from who you like provided that the action does not break the law. Much as I may deplore the case in point, I would wholeheartedly defend the philosophy in general.

If you wish to put in place strictures, then approach your professional body and ask why they failed to do this when the HPC Act was put into practice and ask them what they intend to do about it now.

Bill Liggins

 

i guess whoever set those boundaries will also be responsible to allow or not allow. if an unqualified person is allowed to do diabetic assessments then the patient should be made known that there are practitioners who are qualified and unqualified so they can make an informed pick(a qualified being a podiatrist who has years of training in theory and practical aspect of neurology and is familier with the pathophysiology of diabetis and will be able to interpret the results of the assessments. an unqualified practitioner is self explanatory).
i think Lovefeet is trying to make a point here that organisations representing the profession should make this known.

may be am out of league here to comment on these matters of UK. i jus felt like sharing my opinion.

 

A 'nursing auxiliary' is a HCA, health care assistant, who has a different role to that of a nurse, and is not an imitation of one. I have worked as a HCA whilst studying. Basically HCA do the feeding, washing, cleaning, etc, whilst nurses do the drugs, ward management, etc, etc, etc. But, yes, HCAs often spend more time with the patient than the nurse would, and, dare I say it, offer more direct care, so in that sense, they are a cheap form of nursing. On a side note, many of the patients I worked with (elderly winter ward) did not know the difference between HCA and nurses particularly, we were all carers. Is this the same for pods, assistants, FHPs?
On the other side note, may god/anyone strike me down before I end up in a winter ward at the hands of a HCA.