Chiropodists (Hansard, 20 April 1959)

§ 49. Mr. G. Thomas
asked the Minister of Health what steps he proposes to take to ensure that only properly trained chiropodists take part in the National Health Service: and whether he will make a statement on his recent consultations with interested parties on this matter.

§ Mr. Walker-Smith
I would refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Wythensha we (Mrs. Hill) on 13th April.

§ Mr. Thomas
Am I to understand that the Minister is telling me that he is now agreed that only qualified chiropodists will take part in the Service? Is he taking steps to ensure that all chiropodists are registered if they are to take part in the public service?

§ Mr. Walker-Smith
The conditions at present applying to chiropodists wishing to qualify for employment in the National Health Service, either by a hospital authority or by a local health authority, are set out in the regulations governing this matter. That is the position pending any registration scheme.

Mrs. Slater
Is the Minister aware that this is causing very grave concern amongst people particularly interested in the care of the feet of the elderly and that it needs a straight answer "Yes" or "No" about the qualifications which will be recognised? Will the Minister say whether he is recognising, in addition to the Society and the Institute, those people who take merely a postal course and have no practical training, which is a very serious matter?

§ Mr. Walker-Smith
No. The position is quite clear. If the hon. Lady will be good enough to look at the regulations, she will see set out clearly the qualifications required in order to have employment in the public field. There is no ambiguity about that.

§ Dr. Summerskill
Will the Minister say what will be the basis of remuneration for chiropodists who treat patients in clinics and in their own homes?

§ Mr. Walker-Smith
That will be by agreement with the local health authority employing them, if the right hon. Lady is speaking, as I apprehend she is, of the arrangements within Section 28 of the National Health Service Act.

§ Dame Irene Ward
Does the Question imply that my right hon. and learned Friend has had personal consultation, as I at any rate consider that on these matters the Minister himself ought to see these bodies before the regulations are laid?

§ Mr. Walker-Smith
I do not follow my hon. Friend's question in regard to the implication of the Question, because only the hon. Gentleman who tabled the Question can answer that. Consultations take place with the officers of my Department, who in this, as in all other respects, act on my behalf, and I accept responsibility for what they do.

§ Dame Irene Ward
That is not good enough.

§ Mr. Thomas
In view of the unsatisfactory nature of the reply, I give notice that I shall raise the matter at the earliest possible moment.