UK first Podiatry Community Appointment Day
The Trust is leading the way in delivering more care on the doorstep, thanks to new podiatry community appointment days.
This week's event in Roche and a summer session in Camborne are the first of their kind in the UK.
The events aim to look at the prevention of serious illnesses in a holistic way. They hope to lower podiatry waiting times, bring care closer to home, and improve access to services.
People were invited from the Trust's podiatry waiting list to this community-based event at the Victory Hall in Roche. Over 100 people accepted the invite and were booked in throughout the course of the day for treatments and advice.
With a personalised care approach, patients were encouraged to have a 'what matters to you?' conversation.
It also provided an opportunity for people to access an assessment, rehab support and awareness of other services available to them.
As well as being a first in the UK, the events are set to be modelled nationally by NHS England.
Neil Smith is the podiatry professional lead and one of the organisers of the event:
"What we're aiming to do today is broaden our offering for our patients. They are offered an opportunity to be assessed by a podiatrist and visit various zones. Either a rehab rehabilitation zone or a musculoskeletal zone. Or they can just get general foot care advice."
The first ever UK event took place in Camborne in July. Following its success, the second event took place in Roche this week. A third event is planned for later in the year in north Cornwall.
These events align to the 10-year Health Plan and the 3 shifts recommended in the Darzi review, especially hospital to community and treatment to prevention. Neil adds:
"We have based it here in a community area because we're trying to make it as accessible as possible for people to get to. And we're looking to make sure that people have access to walk directly within their locality."
Patients attending the event were also able to learn more about other services available to them. There were walk-up areas from the voluntary sector, including Healthy Cornwall, Age UK, and Diabetes UK. Other NHS teams and providers, such as the Integrated Stroke Service and the Talking Therapies Team, were also in attendance.