Cornwall NHS Trust Hosts UK’s First Podiatry Community Appointment Days

Cornwall is leading the way in community healthcare thanks to a pioneering approach from Cornwall Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. A new style of podiatry community appointment days has been introduced, and they are the first of their kind anywhere in the UK.

Bringing Care Closer to Home

This week, more than 100 people were invited from the Trust’s podiatry waiting list to attend an event at Victory Hall in Roche. The day offered treatments, advice and a chance for patients to have a personalised ‘what matters to you?’ conversation.

The approach is designed to prevent serious illnesses, cut waiting times, improve access to podiatry, and bring services closer to where people live.

Neil Smith, podiatry professional lead and one of the organisers of the event, explained:
“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.”

National Attention

The Trust’s first event was held in Camborne in July. Following its success, the second event took place this week in Roche, with a third already planned for later in the year in north Cornwall.

As well as being a first in the country, these events are set to be modelled nationally by NHS England. They also align with the 10-year Health Plan and the three shifts recommended in the Darzi review, focusing on moving care from hospital to community and from treatment to prevention.

Neil added:
“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.”

Support Beyond Foot Care

As part of the day, patients were also introduced to wider support services. Voluntary groups such as Healthy Cornwall, Age UK and Diabetes UK were present, alongside NHS teams including the Integrated Stroke Service and the Talking Therapies Team.

With more events planned, the Trust is putting Cornwall at the centre of a healthcare model that could soon be rolled out across the whole of the UK.