Press release: Health Education England publishes First Contact Practitioners and Advanced Practitioners in Primary Care: (Podiatry) - A Roadmap to Practice

The roadmap aims to define first contact roles, their respective training processes, and educational pathways. It also seeks to clarify the definition of advanced practice roles, their respective training processes, and educational pathways.

The roadmap is an essential tool to support clinicians to build a portfolio of evidence for FCP and AP roles. It has been designed specifically for clinicians and managers in England. Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland are developing different approaches for Allied Health Professionals (AHP) roles in Primary Care.

The Royal College of Podiatry and its special advisory groups contributed to the podiatry-specific Roadmap to Practice in Primary Care with HEE.

The roadmap sets out:

• The expected podiatrist FCP and AP capabilities, and describes the range of knowledge, skills and attributes (KSA) expected of post-holders
• The KSA elements are cross-referenced to existing national standards and frameworks for podiatrists to ensure consistency across sectors of working
• The roadmaps provide guidance on the training required to work in FCP or AP roles in primary care, and
• It provides supporting resources and signposting to additional sources of training, such as e-Learning for Healthcare online modules.

Podiatrists in England, along with physiotherapists, occupational therapists, paramedics and dieticians have been working in primary care as First Contact Practitioners to help to reduce pressure on GPs, ensuring people see the right person in the right place at the right time.

HEE’s Roadmaps to Practice set out a development pathway for AHPs who wish to take up roles in primary care.

Steve Jamieson, Chief Executive of the Royal College of Podiatry, said:

‘The HEE roadmap to practice is an essential tool that will help podiatrists to develop in primary care roles, thereby ensuring that patients see the right person at the right time and reduce delay in treatment. The College and its special advisory groups have contributed towards this work over many months, in partnership with HEE. This roadmap will further reinforce the concept of podiatrists as first contact practitioners, to enable cost effective healthcare.'

To read the full Roadmap, please visit the HEE website. 

ENDS

Notes to Editors

About the Royal College of Podiatry

The Royal College of Podiatry is the professional association and trade union for registered podiatrists in the United Kingdom. For more information about what we do, visit: https://bit.ly/2RQQJe5

Contact:

For all media enquiries, call 0207 234 8659, or email emma.mcconnachie@rcpod.org.uk.