Written by Helen Rawse

To read this article please click here https://iop-uk.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/Bullous-Pephigoid.pdf

Case Notes is a regular feature in the IoCP quarterly publication – Podiatry Review. Every member will have seen unusual patients and/or will have unusual conditions which will be of interest to the readership, colleagues and peers.

Case Notes is an expansion on your own medical notes ensuring you do not identify the patient, unless you have written consent.

We welcome all submissions of your findings to be featured in our Podiatry Review, please contact media@iop-uk.org for more information or to submit your case!

Health Education England is launching the standards for the foot health support workforce.

The Foot Health Standards are part of work which aims to increase the supply of podiatrists in the NHS, while expanding the role of the support workforce. The Standards will ensure that the NHS recognises the knowledge and skills of the wider foot health support workforce.

The Standards were open to consultation in late 2020. The responses of stakeholders have been used to further develop the Standards and to better understand the issues and challenges around this topic.

The Standards are intended to support the NHS in utilising the full skills mix of the foot health workforce to meet demand, by providing a clear understanding of the footcare treatments that the NHS podiatry support workforce and foot health practitioners can safely perform. The needs and safety of patients is central in this work. Employers and managers can use the Standards to effectively plan, develop, and deploy their support workforce.

From our work with support workers and services across the country we know there is wide variation in their education and training, and how they are deployed. This work will ensure that:

1. Patients and service users have access to skilled and consistently well-trained support workers who have a defined role within their team
2. support workers have access to development structures that provide opportunities to follow a richer and more rewarding career pathway
3. services can address the current variation in support worker roles, banding and progression
4. support worker roles can be at the heart of improvements in service delivery and transformation, including new models of care.

The main objective is to increase the supply into podiatry and ensure that the NHS recognises the knowledge and skills of the support workforce.

How to use the Standards

NHS managers can use the Standards to understand the treatments that different parts of their foot health support workforces can safely deliver. This will support them in ensuring that they have in place workforces with the skills mix they need to care for patients. This will help managers design services to meet increased patient demand.

Education providers can use the Standards to underpin the development of educational pathways into the NHS podiatry support workforce and onto pre-registration education and training programmes in podiatry. This will support the development and growth of the support and podiatrist workforce

The development of the Standards was overseen by a Consortium of Foot Health Leaders who gathered to address the problem of the falling recruitment numbers on traditional routes into podiatry. The priority of the Consortium was 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.

To view the standards visit Standards for the Foot Health Workforce | Health Education England (hee.nhs.uk)

8th September 2021,

Health Education England have today launched The First Contact Practitioners and Advanced Practitioners in Primary Care: (Podiatry)

A Roadmap to Practice is a supportive document that provides a clear educational pathway from undergraduate to advanced practice for clinicians wishing to pursue a career in primary care.

For more information or to download the document please click the link below

First Contact Practitioners & Advanced Practitioners – Podiatry | Health Education England (hee.nhs.uk)

We are delighted to announce we have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Association. This establishes a solid partnership setting out the intention of our two organisations to work together to ensure good care for people living with and affected by MND.

Six people per day in the UK are diagnosed with motor neurone disease (MND). MND is a rapidly progressive and terminal disease that attacks the motor neurones in the brain and spinal cord.[1] It can leave people locked in a failing body, unable to move, talk and eventually breathe. It affects people from all communities and a person’s lifetime risk of developing MND is around 1 in 300. It kills a third of people within a year and more than half within two years of diagnosis. There is, currently, no cure for MND and whilst research into one continues, other research and therapeutic efforts are firmly focussed on managing symptoms and maximising the quality of life for people living with it.

We will be working with the Association as a therapy group that may be in a position to sign post patients to their GP if we suspect there is an underlying cause to the symptoms we are presented with

[1] 1 Bäumer D, Talbot K and Turner MR. Advances in motor neurone disease. Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine. 2014; 107:14.

If you have any questions or would like to know more about the Association please visit their website www.mndassociation.org which holds excellent information resources, information about current research and contact information MND Connect helpline. Alternatively contact Jennifer Bedford at Jennifer.bedford@mndassociation.org.

Additionally, if you are a Podiatrist and have any experience of Motor Neurone Disease we’d love to hear from you. Email our team media@iop-uk.org

We are delighted to have welcomed so many new members. We are run by podiatrists for podiatrists, and with your continued support and invaluable feedback we continue to grow, expanding our connections and networks to bring you the best support, advice, collaborations and of course our unrivalled insurance packages!

Key benefits of IoP membership 2024:

• Community Trade Union – pay monthly trade union advice and support with FREE online learning
• Discounted rates with HMCA
• Regional networking
• Exclusive access and discounted rates to our CPD courses and events

…and all existing membership benefits, including access to industry leading malpractice insurance, quarterly Podiatry Review, monthly e-newsletters, and more interaction with our elect committee for help, advice and support when you need it!

Terms and Conditions of membership

Membership of the Institute of Podiatrists is granted at the absolute discretion of the Membership Committee.

Membership is not an automatic right, it is a benefit for members who adhere to our reasonable rules and treat other members, staff and partners with respect.  We may, in the event of misuse of membership, using reasonable discretion, decide to suspend or terminate your membership at any time.  Failure to pay membership fees is not the only reason to terminate membership, conduct and misuse of membership can also lead to that result, such as, but is not limited to, behaviour which is troublesome or shows lack of respect towards fellow members, staff, or partners; criminal actions; or actions which are generally perceived to be immoral, unethical or contrary to the IoP’s membership rules.  In the event of an application being declined or membership being terminated no correspondence will be entered into.

4 easy ways to renew:

1. Renew online – simply sign in to the members area here iop-uk.org/members/login/

2. Pay by bank transfer 

3. or by direct debit 

4. By phone 01704 546 141

or

join us by visiting https://iop-uk.org/application-form/ leave your details and we’ll do the rest!

NOTE: Colleagues applying for membership from the Republic of Ireland who wish to take advantage of our insurance, please be aware the insurance is tailored to your scope of practice and our insurance partners may need to discuss this with you prior to agreeing cover and premium.

We are proud to work in partnership with Community trade union, we believe a good modern trade union is not only essential to a positive and safe workplace but more importantly gives self-employed workers like us a strong and collective voice.

Community is a proud champion of the five million strong self-employed and freelance community across the UK, including chiropodists and podiatrists.

For many people, self-employment is the answer to finding a good work-life balance and can be extremely rewarding. It can also mean longer hours, less pay, more worry about your finances and employment. By partnering with Community we want to give you that help, as well as campaign on the issues that matter to us as a sector.

As a member of Community, IOCP/COFH members can:

Advice and support

Community union provides advice and support through their service centre of expert legal advisors, dedicated to supporting members with any questions or help members may need.

Whether its advice on client relations, self-assessment tax returns, debt recovery and late payments, welfare benefits, discrimination and health and safety issues – Community can help.

Campaign and organise

By building and strengthening our collective voice as part of Community, we can ensure our voices are heard. Community is a proud campaigning union and the strength of their membership paired with their political affiliations means they can take the issues you care about and make sure they are heard across the UK at every level.

Pay and conditions

Community can support you at work with individual representation to get the best deal, and secure fair treatment and fair pay.

Education and training

By becoming a member of Community, you can access bespoke education and training opportunities that works well for freelancers and the self-employed. This includes access to hundreds of free online courses to develop key business skills.

Discounts and savings

You can save money on a range of leisure, insurance and retail products through Community’s discounts on a range of professional and personal products and services.

To join follow the link from the November members e-newsletter or login to the members area of our website

All members of the Institute of Chiropodists and Podiatrists (IOCP) and College of Foot Health can now access eIntegrity’s e-learning resources to support their professional development.

Members can use the Statutory and Mandatory Training, Dementia e-Learning Programme and Antimicrobial Resistance learning sessions. The programmes have been chosen for their relevance to practitioners in the IOCP – which represents HCPC[1]-registered podiatrists, podiatric surgeons and chiropodists in the UK.

Beverley Wright, Vice-Chair of the Board of Education, from the IOCP, said: “We’re pleased to offer these three programmes as a free benefit to our members, as part of our commitment to them.

“The practice of health and social care is built on effective communication and the ability to problem solve. This can be achieved remotely via distance learning programmes, such as eIntegrity’s, to develop our members’ understanding of statutory and mandatory content on Government and health guidelines, rules and regulations, and to facilitate professional development. It provides a foundation for all working aspects of our members’ practice.

“In today’s society there are a number of aspects that underpin health and social care, where continued professional development (CPD) is required and needs to be considered when delivering care. These CPD resources help equip members with the knowledge and understanding of key health issues, focusing on the main conditions prevalent in our society today.”

Richard Bryant, from eIntegrity, said: “We are delighted to make our e-learning available to the institute. Now, more than ever, we know that health and care professionals are finding our e-learning resources invaluable to support their development.

“We look forward to building on our relationship with the institute in the longer term and finding out how best we can support their members.”

[1] Health and Care Professions Council

MEMBERS – please login to the members area of our website (top right) for full terms & conditions, user guides and for further details on how you can sign up.