Question in Parliament (10 Sept)

NewsBot · Sep 24, 2007

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From Hansard:
Ben Chapman (Wirral South, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health
(1) if he will require primary care trusts to undertake a comprehensive assessment of local foot health needs in conjunction with local authorities;

(2) what assessment he has made of the ease of access by vulnerable and elderly persons to chiropody services on the NHS;

(3) how many NHS chiropody clinics have closed in (a) Wirral, (b) Merseyside, (c) the North West and (d) England in the last five years;

(4) what the funding per head of the population for chiropody services was in England in the latest period for which figures are available.
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Ben Bradshaw (Minister of State, Department of Health)

No central assessment has been carried out and there are no plans to require primary care trusts (PCTs) to undertake an assessment of local foot health needs. It is up to PCTs to assess the needs of their local population and to determine what proportion of their resources are spent on commissioning chiropody services based on those needs. Strategic health authorities are responsible for ensuring that PCTs fulfil this duty.

We know healthy feet have a huge impact on the quality of life and we expect PCTs to provide high quality chiropody services. Guidance for access to these services is included in the national service frameworks for older people, diabetes, and long-term conditions. Chiropody is also included in practice based commissioning: early wins and top tips, and the White Paper, "Our health, our care, our say: a new direction for community services".

Information about how much funding PCTs allocate to chiropody services and the number of chiropody clinics are not collected centrally
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NewsBot · Sep 24, 2007

At east one is increasing services:
Elderly access to Podiatry services a priority- Burstow
Source: London Liberal Democrats

Paul Burstow MP has welcomed recent announcements by Sutton and Merton Primary Care Trust to make podiatry service provision more efficient- but warns that elderly access must not be limited as a result.

The announced changes aim to reduce the number of residents who use podiatry services for less pressing foot health problems such as toenail cutting, so as to reduce waiting lists for those patients with more significant foot health needs form 3-5 months to 2-4 weeks.

While welcoming efforts to improve podiatry service delivery in Sutton, Mr Burstow warned that this should not limit access to basic podiatry and chiropody services among the elderly who rely heavily on these services.

Commenting on the PCT's announcement Paul Burstow MP said;

"Any effort to reduce podiatry service waiting times is welcomed- but it is important that elderly access to basic podiatry and chiropody services is not affected. Lack of access to even the most basic foot care puts the elderly at risk of complications that may lead to dangerous falls, severe restrictions on mobility and social exclusion".
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