Burnley ELHT podiatry service celebrates first anniversary

Nurses opened a new podiatry and treatment room service at Church on the Street in Burnley, as several scheduled appointments for routine wound and foot care at health centres were not being attended.

Church on the Street is already home to some community services, including health care, housing and mental health support, so the podiatry team identified it would be a more comfortable and familiar environment for their patients.

They are now celebrating their first anniversary in the church and say the project has successfully increased the number of people now receiving treatment regularly.

Podiatry team lead, Dawn Stalker, said: “Although uptake was initially slow, attendances over the last 12 months have increased and patients who were previously unable to engage with the services for various reasons are now receiving routine wound and foot care.”

The Podiatry and Treatment Room Service has a clinical team on site, with a weekly drop-in treatment room which has been specially adapted and furnished to support patients.

So far, 140 patients have been seen by the service over the last 12 months.

Ms Stalker added: “The colleagues involved in the service have spent a lot of time getting to know their patients and making sure they are comfortable.

"There has been no judgement and no questions around why people haven't accessed care in the main clinics and I know some patients have now been healed or have been able to have more regular treatment.

“There are still people who haven’t accessed the service that would benefit from being seen regularly, but as time goes on and clients feel more comfortable to attend, we hope we can treat and improve patient outcomes of foot and leg problems.”

Church on the Street provides a range of services in central Burnley to support people through challenging times by providing food, friendship and recovery.