Foot Health Consortium
Health Education England (HEE) has invited key stakeholders to join the newly established Foot Health Consortium. We are delighted to be a member of this Consortium. The Consortium has been established to advise HEE on the current education, training and scope of practice of the different groups of practitioners working in foot health. The priority of the Consortium is to design and develop an agreed framework with appropriate educational resources. The aim is that the model will be applicable to all sectors of this workforce and will be recognised, understood and accepted by service users and practitioners.
Update: 23rd November 2020
Consultation for draft Standards for the Foot Health Workforce
Health Education England, along with the Foot Health Consortium are launching a consultation to seek the views of stakeholders on a draft set of standards for the foot health practitioner and podiatry support workforce.
The consultation will be open from Monday 23 November 2020 – midday Friday 15 February 2021.
The Standards have been developed to support the NHS to effectively use the full skills mix of the foot health workforce to meet demand by providing a clear understanding of the footcare treatments that foot health practitioners and the podiatry support workforce can safely perform. The needs and safety of patients is central in this work.
We would therefore value your feedback about the standards via the consultation and look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions as we take this vital and important next step.
Please visit the HEE consultation webpage for the consultation survey link and two important documents that will help you respond to the consultation.
The Consultation on standards for the non–regulated foot health workforce sets out the background to the work to develop the Standards. It then explains more about how the Standards have been developed and how it is proposed they will be used. The draft Standards on which we are seeking your feedback have been published alongside this consultation document.
In 2019, we gathered as a Consortium of Foot Health Leaders to address the problem of the falling recruitment numbers on traditional routes into podiatry. The priority of the Consortium is to develop a foot health career ladder and educational resources that will support and increase the number of podiatrists and podiatry support workers working in the NHS.
The work of the Consortium has enabled a better understanding of the workforce that provides foot care, with the aim of optimising this workforce for the benefit of those who use the services of any practitioner, in England, who work in this arena.
These Foot Health Education and Training Standards are the result of a year’s work to increase the supply of podiatrists in the NHS workforce. We also want to ensure that the NHS recognises the knowledge and skills of the wider foot care support workforce.