The Royal College of Podiatry

Background

In 2020, the Royal College of Podiatry (RCPod) approached Professor Mike Saks and asked him to Chair a cross-profession strategy group of some of the UK’s most reputable professionals working in the field of podiatry.

Separately, an internal Reference Group of staff and Council members was formed to support this work and its outcomes. The aim of the strategy group was to look at every element of podiatry in 2021 and to make assessments and recommendations for the future.

Everybody at the Royal College of Podiatry is proud to publish this landmark report, The Saks Report, and hopes that the whole profession will use it as a blueprint for the future.

Executive summary

After careful analysis, the Strategy Group made a variety of recommendations. A summary of the twenty-eight recommendations made by this report, under seven headings, is set out in the Executive Summary.

Such recommendations will need to be prioritised by the Council of the College on a short- to medium- or longer-term basis. Some of the initial recommendations are generic, while others are more specific and pressing such as those related to ensuring an appropriate supply of podiatrists.

Download the Executive Summary Download the Saks Report

Supporting documents

In preparing his report, Professor Saks drew on information and evidence from a number of sources, including several papers from College reference groups. The 14 key supporting documents are listed below. Members need to be logged in to access the documents.

About the author

Professor Mike Saks BA, MA, PhD, FIKE, FIoD, FRCCM, FRSA, MIRL is Emeritus Professor at the University of Suffolk, UK, and Visiting Professor at the University of Lincoln, UK, Royal Veterinary College, University of London, UK, University of Westminster, UK, and the University of Toronto, Canada.

Professor Saks has published extensively on health, professions, regulation and research methods. He has advised professions and governments internationally on the health agenda, and is the current Chair of the United Nations-endorsed Institute for Responsible Leadership and a member of the World Health Organization Technical Expert Group on global health practitioner regulation.

Professor Saks commented:

“Podiatry is a profession with great appeal. It offers almost certain employment, a wide range of pathways and specialisms, and excellent professional development.

However, as I make clear in the report, podiatry is now at a crossroads. The College and the profession need to do more to meet internal and external challenges – many of them considerable – that threaten future opportunities.

That is why my recommendations to the Council of the College are designed to address these challenges and to take the profession positively forward into the future. I look forward to seeing how these recommendations are incorporated into the College’s strategic plan.”

Steve Jamieson commented:

“Healthcare professions – and allied health professions like podiatry in particular – face huge challenges. Politically, financially, in its diversity and leadership and in being able to recruit and retain high-skilled clinicians to accommodate the increased public need for services.

My thanks go to Professor Saks and the College’s Workforce, education, and development strategy group for making sense of the task ahead. Not only does it set the College on a path to guide the profession to achieve these goals, but the report also provides a clear framework for all of us to work to so that podiatry, podiatrists and their life and limb-saving interventions and care can be recognised and appreciated as widely as possible.”