Chiropody

Part of Oral Answers to Questions — Health – in the House of Commons at 11:30 am on 2 November 2004.

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Photo of John Baron John Baron Shadow Minister (Health) 11:30, 2 November 2004

Despite what the Minister says, the latest Government figures clearly show that the number of patients receiving chiropody care in the NHS has fallen significantly in recent years, and that many hundreds of thousands of mostly elderly patients are being denied any form of NHS foot care altogether. The Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists has confirmed that many patients are simply being bumped off waiting lists. I put it to the Minister that there is a lottery in chiropody care, as a result of which many elderly patients are needlessly suffering. Will he now stop blaming the PCTs, which have to juggle a number of Government targets and priorities—chiropody is not one of them—stop ignoring the situation, and do something to put it right?