§ Barbara FollettTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence the Department has of the level of satisfaction of patients with chiropody and podiatry treatment. [38218]
§ Jacqui SmithWe have no national collected evidence of patients' levels of satisfaction with chiropody/podiatry treatment.
§ Barbara FollettTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence the Department has collated of the effect on quality of life that effective foot health care can provide to(a) children, (b) the elderly and (c) other adults. [38219]
§ Jacqui SmithWe recognise the importance of effective delivery of chiropody/podiatry care especially helping older people maintain their mobility and independence. The National Service Framework for older people says that: specialised falls services which are established should include chiropodists/podiatrists; specialist mental health services for older people should have agreed working and referral arrangements with chiropodists and podiatrists; and it sets a performance measure for numbers/rates of people aged 75+ who access chiropody/podiatry services.
We also recognise the necessity of access to chiropody/podiatry services for other groups including children and others in the adult population.
§ Barbara FollettTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what plans he has to issue guidance to(a) PCTs and (b) health authorities regarding (i) the minimum level of chiropody or podiatry service that should be available to patients and (ii) what level of chiropody or podiatry service should be available to patients wherever they live; [38216]
(2) what assessment he has made of the appropriate level of chiropody and podiatry services that each primary care trust should commission; [38226]
(3) what guidance he plans to provide to strategic health authorities regarding the appropriate level of chiropody/podiatry services that each primary care trust should commission. [38211]
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§ Jacqui SmithNo guidance has been issued to strategic health authorities (StHAs) or primary care trusts (PCTs) on levels of national health service chiropody/podiatry services to be commissioned, nor has any assessment been done.
However, the Department has launched a "National Primary and Care Trust programme (NatPaCT)" designed to support PCTs in delivering their key functions which will be:
- Improving the health of the community
- Securing the provision of high quality services
- Integrating health and social care locally.
As local organisations, PCTs are best placed to understand the needs of their patient populations. This will ensure that the right services are delivered to the right people in the right location at the right time.
§ Barbara FollettTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what information his Department has collated on the extent to which the podiatry and chiropody needs of the population are being met by the NHS; [38217]
(2) what information the Department has, and what research his Department has assessed, on the need for chiropody and podiatry services among the general population. [38220]
§ Jacqui SmithWe recognise the importance of effective delivery of chiropody/podiatry care especially for older people, who make up approximately 18 per cent. of the general population, to maintain their mobility and independence. Other groups using chiropody/podiatry include children, pregnant women, people with diabetes and those with learning disabilities. Many national health service services are increasingly prioritising to ensure that these high-risk groups are treated and access chiropody/podiatry services before others.
The Department has part funded, with the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists, a research project by University College Northampton "Do 'low risk' older people need podiatry care". The results are awaited.
§ Barbara FollettTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many foot operations have been undertaken in each of the last five years by(a) orthopaedic surgeons and (b) podiatric surgeons; [38221]
(2) what the average cost is of a foot operation when undertaken by (a) an orthopaedic surgeon and (b) a podiatric surgeon. [38222]
§ Jacqui SmithThe information requested is not collected in this form.
§ Barbara FollettTo ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) what information his Department has collated on the percentage of the population who have consulted a chiropodist or podiatrist in each of the last five years; and what percentage of the population have ever been treated by a chiropodist or podiatrist; [38215]
(2) in each of the last five years, how many (a) face to face contacts there were between patients and chiropodists or podiatrists, (b) new courses of treatment were started and (c) individual podiatry patients were treated. [38224]
§ Jacqui SmithNo information on the percentage of the population who have consulted a chiropodist or podiatrist is collected centrally. Information is collected annually on 541W total face to face contacts with chiropody services, the numbers of new episodes of care in the year are contained in the statistical report "Chiropody services, summary information for 2000–01, England". A copy of the report is in the Library and it is also available on the Department's website www.doh.gov.uk/public/kt230001. The previous five years of this data are also available in the Library.
§ Barbara FollettTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the implications for NHS chiropody/podiatry provision of the publication of(a) the NHS policy on older people and (b) the guidelines for the NSF for diabetes. [38213]
§ Jacqui SmithThe national service framework for older people was published on 27 March 2001. It sets new national standards and service models of care across health and social services for all older people whether they live at home, in residential care or are being cared for in hospital. The NSF recognises the role of chiropody/podiatry services in that
chiropody/podiatry is a service which is import to older people as it assists in maintaining mobility and independence. There is concern that ageism/age discrimination may take the form of low overall levels of provision to this care group.specialised falls service which are established should include chiropodists/podiatrists.specialist mental health services for older people should have agreed working and referral arrangements with chiropody/podiatry and podiatrists.and it sets a performance measure for numbers/rates of people aged 75+ who access chiropody/podiatry services.We published standards for the diabetes NSF in December 2001. The delivery strategy will follow in summer 2002, with the 10-year implementation programme to begin in April 2003. Milestones for delivery, including workforce, will be based on the available resources. The strategy will be informed by the work of the long-term conditions care group workforce team, which will be taking a national view of the workforce implications of the standards and intervention. The workforce team has a podiatrist in its membership to ensure consideration of chiropody/podiatry requirements and contribute to these care groups.
Podiatrists have been members of the external reference groups for both these NSFs.
§ Barbara FollettTo ask the Secretary of State for Health what evidence his Department has of(a) local and (b) regional variations in the provision of NHS chiropody or podiatry treatment. [38225]
§ Jacqui SmithWe acknowledge that there are local and regional variations in national health service chiropody/podiatry services. For example, we know from data collected that trusts have different staffing structures and employ different numbers of staff.
These variations may result from NHS organisations having to clinically prioritise the services they provide to meet local demand for chiropody/podiatry services. Although local demographics may affect service provision levels, for example high level older people population, many services are prioritising for those most at risk such as older people, children, pregnant women, people with diabetes and those with learning disabilities.