asked Her Majesty's Government:Whether the discharge of patients of the Lifespan National Health Service Trust on the ground of "low chiropodial need" was in accordance with ethical guidelines, taking into account that these patients were later readmitted following deterioration of their conditions. [HL28]

Lifespan Healthcare NHS Trust reviewed 11,000 chiropody patients in 1997 and identified 5,600 patients as being in a low risk category.These patients were subsequently discharged back to the care of their general practitioner after being given advice on how to return to the podiatry services if their condition should deteriorate. Of these, 620 patients have been readmitted following deterioration in their condition.Future practice will be influenced by the findings from a current research project into tracking patients discharged from the chiropody and podiatry services.