asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they have any plans for ensuring urgent access to podiatric care for diabetics, irrespective of where they live, under the National Health Service; and [HL3424]

What steps they are considering to establish a national foot assessment scheme to ensure that patients with the same level of need have the same access to podiatric care under the National Health Service. [HL3425]

There are no plans to issue central criteria for access to podiatric services or to establish a national foot assessment scheme. It is for primary care trusts in partnership with local stakeholders to determine how best to use their funds to meet national and local priorities for improving health, outlined in the national service frameworks (NSFs), and to commission services accordingly. This process provides the means for addressing local needs within the health community, including the provision of podiatry.

Guidance for access to podiatric services is available in the NSFs for older people, diabetes, and long-term conditions. Further information is available in the National Diabetes Support Team Diabetic Foot Guide. These documents are available in the Library.

Our Health, Our Care, Our Say sets out the future direction for healthcare. The implementation will address improved access to allied health professions, including podiatry. We are establishing pilot sites for the introduction of self-referral to physiotherapy. Lessons learnt from these pilots will be applicable to other therapies and we will be working closely with the professions on this.