Promoting foot health to new podiatry patients and encouraging safe self-care has resulted in significant reductions in waiting times in Aberdeen City.
Invitations are sent to all people referred to the Aberdeen City Podiatry Service as non-urgent cases, asking them to attend a foot health talk. Following this, patients would be invited to attend an assessment should they still feel they require podiatry input.
Since the new patient-focused talks, waiting times in Aberdeen City have dropped from 12 months to four weeks.
One of the Health Promotion podiatrists, Rachael Smith, said:
"During the talks we show examples of foot conditions and simple tips on how to keep feet healthy and how the patient can easily deal with minor foot complaints. The patients really feel empowered to cope with their own foot care after receiving education and often won't require further treatment."
Patients welcome this successful health promotion initiative and Aberdeen City hope that it will continue to further reduce the demands upon the podiatry service and encourage patients to be more involved in their foot health. This improves the quality of patients' care and their expectations of what the service can offer.
Soc Chiropodists & Podiatrists 12-Mar-2007
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