Claire Davies

Claire Davies: Advanced podiatrist: Diabetes and high risk

After graduation, Claire started her career as a Band 5 podiatrist in an NHS Trust, during this time, Claire received informal and formal mentoring from her colleagues. She found informal mentorship and clinical supervision was essential in learning and supporting growth of relationships. Upon transitioning into a Band 6 podiatrist role, Claire found herself working in new environments, such as community clinics, domiciliary caseloads, and nail surgeries. Claire had an opportunity to work in diabetic rotations, which sparked her interest in diabetic foot specialisms. She pursued a part-time MSc in Diabetics and gained advanced knowledge in this area.

During her time as a Band 6, Claire also had the role of student placement facilitator and union learning representative (ULR) at her Trust. Her team have always valued having students on placement at their Trust, ensuring a health and safety, and ULR available to provide support for students.

Claire was involved in a joint podiatry and vascular clinic, which was a foundation for the multidisciplinary teams (MDT) for diabetes seen today, which now include specialists in diabetes and orthopaedics. Interprofessional collaborations enabled Claire to gain an in-depth perspective on how working in partnership benefits the service for patients, and an insight into the breadth of capabilities other professions offer that Claire could refer into.

Claire was given the opportunity to work on the hospital wards providing acute inpatient care, inclusive of a foot health team approach, after a business case was successfully produced by the service. She started working in Scarborough and York Hospitals, dealing with high-risk wounds, pressure ulcers, revascularisation, and amputation cases. Claire worked with tissue viability nurses (TVNs) and vascular teams, which gave her an opportunity to see how they operate and how podiatry fits into the MDT. The ward environment was different from the clinic, and more patients were treated with co-morbidities and were acutely unwell.

Claire was part of the Pressure Ulcer Steering Group, working with NHSi to reduce the presence of pressure ulcers. The group consisted of TVNs, patient safety team, podiatrists, and the head of nursing. She provided education to health care assistants and nurses through their preceptorship program.

Claire had the opportunity to speak about the role and importance of podiatry in diabetes care in Japan, which was a great experience for her personal development and education.