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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what recent assessment he has made of the standard of podiatry services in the NHS.

Dr Daniel Poulter

There has been no assessment made by the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), on the standard of podiatry services in the National Health Service. Podiatrists are professionally regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC) and are accountable for their practice via the fitness to practise process. Registered podiatrists are required to maintain ongoing continued professional development to ensure that their clinical skills are maintained. This is a mandatory requirement by the HCPC.

Health organisations are expected to follow the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) Quality Standard on diabetes requires that people with diabetes that have foot ulcers, or are at risk of developing them, have regular check-ups from a team specialising in foot protection. It also requires that people are seen and treated by a specialist healthcare team within 24 hours if they have foot problems needing urgent medical attention.

NICE guidelines recommend annual foot checks. This is included in the Quality and Outcomes Framework which incentivises general practitioners to perform and record a foot examination in people with diabetes.

NHS England also plans to launch a National Diabetes Footcare Audit in July 2014, which aims to establish the extent to which national guidelines on the management of diabetic foot disease are being met. This will provide local teams with the evidence needed to tackle any identified differences in practice which will lead in turn to an overall improvement in management and outcomes for patients.

Some elements of podiatry services are regulated by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and has a key responsibility in the overall assurance of safety and quality of health and adult social care services. Under the Health and Social Care Act 2008, all providers of regulated activities, including NHS and independent providers, have to register with CQC and meet a set of requirements of safety and quality.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what representations he has received on the relationship between the availability of podiatry services and the rate of lower limb amputations.

Dr Daniel Poulter

The Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt), has not personally received representations on the relationship between the availability of podiatry services and rate of lower limb amputations.

I regularly meet with the Allied Health Professions Federation. At the last meeting held in February 2014, representatives from the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists attended and a wide range of issues were discussed, including prevention of lower limb amputations.

We are not currently able to correlate the relationship between the availability of podiatry services and rate of lower limb amputation in those with diabetes. However, on 14 July 2014, NHS England will be launching the National Diabetes Footcare Audit (a new module to be incorporated into the National Diabetes Audit) which will allow this relationship to be explored.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment his Department made of the prevalence of grade down-banding of podiatrists employed within the NHS.

Dr Daniel Poulter

There has been no assessment made by the Secretary of State for Health, my right hon. Friend the Member for South West Surrey (Mr Hunt) of the prevalence of grade down-banding of podiatrists employed within the National Health Service.

NHS Employers are responsible for their workforce structure. Grade down-banding or changing the pay structure of the role to a lower grade, is a measure undertaken by some NHS organisations due to re-organisation and restructure.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Andy Sawford on 2014-04-29.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the level of TUPE contract protection available to fraud staff currently employed by local authorities who will be transferred to the Department for Work and Pensions as part of the single fraud investigation service.

Esther McVey

DWP has considered whether the creation of SFIS falls within the TUPE definitions. The regulations state “…the transfer of administrative functions between public administrative authorities is not a relevant transfer” (for the purpose of TUPE). After careful consideration, DWP has concluded that benefit fraud investigations fall within this category, and as such, TUPE would not apply.

DWP has however, made clear that the success of SFIS is a priority and we intend to transfer staff currently working on fraud investigations from Local Authorities. To effect those transfers, DWP will apply the approach set out in the Cabinet Office Statement of Practice for Staff Transfers in the Public Sector (COSOP) and staff will transfer under a Statutory Transfer Scheme (STS) as provided for under Section 38 of the Employment Relations Act 1999. In line with COSOP, the terms and conditions for transferring staff will be protected.