Some more good news….but we are certainly not back to “normal” but it’s a start. We have been advised that we can now start to ease our restrictions further on the type of patients that we can treat in the practice.
As you know, if you have been following our posts, we have been triaging patients into a red, amber or green category. We thought it may help you to understand what this means exactly and why we may not be able to see you as soon as you would like. The categories are as follows: RED is an acute or limb threatening condition. AMBER is patients who have a debilitating or life-threatening condition, including infection and GREEN is general foot health or low podiatric risk.
Following advice from the Government and our regulatory body (HCPC) and our professional body, The College of Podiatry, they have advised that we may now start to treat patients who fall into the green category of “mild conditions”. However this does not mean that we are returning to “normal”.
Firstly, we must still ensure that we give priority to treating our patients who are classed as Red and Amber as they are at a greater risk of critical limb issues. Our Green patients should be seen only if self care advice or a telehealth appointment will not be suitable. Please bear with us as we work our way to you, but I am sure you will understand that we need to prioritise those with a greater need.
Every Podiatry practice has a different balance of patients. You may be talking to one of your friends where they will be seen sooner than you, so we appreciate your understanding that each practice will move at a slightly different speed to process their backlog of patients. The welfare of our patients is a priority to us and we are ensuring that we have the appropriate measures in place for your safety and ours. Decisions on who to treat and when needed is based on the likelihood of a patient developing an infection, wound or losing their limb. We thank you for your understanding as we process our backlog and urgent patients. We will be in touch with all of our cancelled patients as soon we can.
We are only booking a week ahead to allow maximum flexibility in case we become symptomatic or guidance changes. If you have a problem before you hear from us then please contact us on 01305 262498, via our website or Facebook messenger.
Thank you for your support during this time, we will see you on the other side.
Matt and Kate