The RCPod publishes its full response to the government’s 10-year NHS plan
The RCPod outlines how the profession can help with the government’s agenda for a preventative, digitally enabled and more local NHS — but only if podiatry gets the urgent investment and workforce support it needs
The Royal College of Podiatry (RCPod) has today published its comprehensive response to the government’s 10-year plan for the NHS in England.
In its response, the RCPod welcomes the plan’s ambitions to remodel healthcare provision through localised, community-focused care, greater digitisation, and a renewed emphasis on prevention. However, it warns that the plans will not be realised without urgent investment in podiatry services and the workforce that underpins them.
Lawrence Ambrose, the RCPod’s Head of Policy and Public Affairs, said:
“Our initial response recognised the potential of the 10-year plan to transform healthcare in England. This statement sets out how podiatry can play a huge role in achieving the transformation the government wants. From preventing avoidable hospital admissions to reducing health inequalities and supporting more integrated care, podiatrists are already providing the care that this plan envisions. But without investment in digital infrastructure and without the government supporting the podiatry workforce, the profession risks being left behind, which will put thousands of patients at greater risk of immobility, ulceration, infection, and amputation.”
The response highlights several areas where podiatry can support the plan’s goals through:
- Prevention and early intervention
- Reducing health inequalities
- Digitisation
- Investing in increasing the numbers of podiatrists
- Podiatry’s role in integrated care.
Specifically, the RCPod’s response highlights how:
- Podiatrists are essential in managing long-term conditions such as diabetes, reducing complications like foot ulceration and amputation
- More funding for podiatry services in deprived areas can address health disparities and outcomes
- With the right infrastructure and training, podiatry can use digital tools to improve patient care and remotely monitor patients
- Addressing recruitment and retention challenges — including better funding for education and training — can help the government achieve its plans
- Podiatrists are already working in primary, community and acute settings and should be a key part of patients’ care pathways.
The College is promoting two national campaigns in 2025 which directly support the ambitions of the 10-year plan. One, which launched this Summer, promotes careers in podiatry to 15–18-year-olds and career changers. The second, scheduled to launch in November, will use patient stories to raise public awareness of the profession’s vital role in keeping people healthy, mobile and active.
You can read the full response to the 10-year Plan here.
RCPod members can read more analysis about the 10-year plan from a podiatry perspective in the September/October issue of The Podiatrist.