As the waiting lists continue to rise there are challenges in managing the surgical workload created from pausing services during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Foot and ankle complications arise in 30% of the population and surgical intervention can give an immediate solution to many as well as providing an alternative intervention for those receiving continued conservative care. Podiatric surgery has been established as a specialist service for over 40 years and can assist in providing a cost-effective solution for reducing elective foot surgery waiting times.
The new report (12 May 2021) released by the College of Podiatry primarily highlights the established scope of practice from this surgical specialism whilst demonstrating the effectiveness of patient reported outcomes previously recorded.
The College of Podiatry Head of Policy and Public Affairs Lawrence Ambrose said, “Podiatric surgery provides an essential service which assists in keeping the ageing population mobile and active and addresses current physical and mental health priorities. It has the capacity to implement non-medical independent prescribing, improving the continuity of care whilst facilitating quicker consultations and access to services and medicines for patients, which reduce admissions. Utilising this specialism in the bid to reduce the significant waiting lists accrued will accelerate relevant care for patients in need whilst sharing the significant burden of workload with multidisciplinary teams.”
Read the report on cop.org.uk.