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Hi, I am a podiatrist, working for the NHS in London. We are currently in the process of assessing all our patients and discharging any that don't fit our new access criteria (thanks to NHS cuts). Where do we stand on giving out the numbers of private practitioners, possibly including ourselves, as one of the main complaints discharged patients have is that they now don't know where to get treatment.
Thanks
Sally

Sally

Much is determined by the policy of the employer. In the dark and dim papst when we discharged clients from the NHS (not a new phenomenon) we had lists prepared of registered private podiatrists by location. As an added service to the patients and courtesy to the practitioners, the department contacted each pod on the list to ascertain whether they were willing to accept new patients. If not, then this was recorded against their name on the patient list and the complete list was available to each client.

The lists taken from the State Registration Board (now HPC) obviously included pods who worked for the NHS. Provided this work was arranged privately (and not in the workplace), and they were bonifidi private practitioners, then there was no conflict of interest.

Complications could arise where employers do not allow their employees to work privately. You would need to check your contract of employment.

We also arranged a series of support mechanisms for discharged clients, such as foot hygiene classes and foot health matierials. These were networked through the agencies which worked with the elderly in the communicty.

In some states of Australia there are organised bodies such as Healthy@Home which provides foot health education, amongst others, in order to promote self care. There are also help lines. The Australasian Podiatry Council offer a findapodiatrist.org service similar to the Society (?).
This particular service has proven very useful to clients keen to locate local practitioners and is used regualrly when patients are being discharged from hospital clinics.

toeslayer

Hi Sally

I have made a posting on another pod site FDUK.co.uk to specialist diabetic pods for ideas to set up a referral system for private pods ( IPP's) to have a direct link and information from specialist clinics.

I don't think it is beyond the realms of possibility for a list to be taken from the HPC and a mailing list be set up in each PCT for exchange of information with ALL pods ??

I have a real problem with referral direct to a diabetic specialist pod in my area ( I am in between 2 pct's). The GP's /diabetic clinics are apparently incapable of a direct referral on discharge from hospital to podiatric care in the community at IPP level and very often the patient is left to their own devices .

When I do manage to refer, follow up is non existent I have no access to any records treatment etc save what I can pick up on the grapevine or more usually when the patient returns to me in a sorry state because they have been left with minimal aftercare.

On the aforementioned site I requested that ALL pods in the PCT area are notified of the local referral system in each PCT, ESPECIALLY the grandparented pods many of whom have not worked in the NHS so have limited knowledge of the system practice. To date on that site there is a definite silence which I hope is because the "specialist pods" are trying to find a solution BUT .......

So Sally in answer to your question ,yes IPP's treat thousands of NHS patients and would appreciate not only their own referrals back for continuing treatment but I'm sure in many cases would take new patients falling outside the NHS criteria.
Cheers
Derek