Diabetic Specialist Podiatrist

Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust; Enfield; On-site; GBP 52,000 - 64,000; Full time

Job summary

Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a senior podiatrist to lead the diabetic foot and high-risk foot care within community services. You will oversee assessment, treatment planning, and audit-driven service improvements, while providing supervision to junior staff and trainees.

You will manage referrals, contribute to education, and work with multidisciplinary teams to embed best practice. Strong leadership and clinical expertise in diabetes foot care are essential.

Qualifications

• Qualified podiatrist with substantial experience in diabetes foot care.
• Experience in line management and service development.
• Ability to audit, teach and supervise students or junior staff.

Responsibilities

• Provide expert podiatric assessment, diagnosis and care plans for high-risk foot conditions.
• Triage referrals, monitor waiting lists and prioritise patient care.
• Lead line management duties, including recruitment and rosters, and deputise for Head of Podiatry when required.
• Deliver education on diabetic foot care to patients and healthcare professionals.
• Lead wound care initiatives and coordinate with community foot protection teams.
• Undertake audits or projects to improve clinical practice and service delivery.
• Maintain accurate patient records and ensure compliance with guidelines and standards.
• Develop in-house training events and participate in departmental meetings.

Skills

Podiatry clinical expertise

Diabetes foot care

Wound care

Clinical leadership

Education & supervision

Education

Bachelor of Podiatry

HCPC registered

Job description

This is an exciting opportunity to provide clinical expertise in the treatment of diabetic foot and other high risk foot pathologies and in the education and supervision of less experienced members of the Podiatry team. To develop and deliver a high quality seamless diabetic and wound care foot service within the community, working with the other senior B7 leads to embed excellent care and to provide managerial support to the Head of Podiatry. The department is part of North Mid in the Community serving the borough of Enfield and as part of North Central London health family it has close working ties with the diabetic MDTs at North Middlesex University Hospital and the Royal Free Hospitals Pond Street and Barnet and Chase Farm Hospitals.

To be responsible for the podiatric assessment, diagnosis, delivery, and evaluation of care plans using a variety of appropriate treatment methods for highrisk and at-risk patient categories. Working either uni-professionally or within amultidisciplinary team.

To hold responsibility for own caseload working as an autonomous clinical expert within diabetes/other high risk foot pathologies.

Triage referrals as required monitoring waiting lists, prioritising and redirectingpatients according to medical and podiatric need.

To undertake evidence-based audit and or project/research to further own and team's clinical practice, and where appropriate make recommendations to the manager to improve service delivery for diabetic/high risk patients.

To ensure effective communication of complex and highly sensitive and emotional information to patients, this requires excellent interpersonal and counselling skills.

To deliver diabetic health education to users.

To take the lead on wound care within the department.

To undertake line management duties such as recruitment, health roster, service delivery reviews to support the head of Podiatry, acting in some circumstances as deputy.

North Mid is part of North Central London integrated care system - consisting of the NHS and Local authority organisations in Camden, Islington, Barnet, Enfield and Haringey. As with other ICSthe we are working increasingly closely with partners and indeed many of our financial and performance objectives are measured at this system level. Whilst all organisations remain as standalone, statutory bodies we have an ICSt infrastructure for making shared decisions and agreeing shared approaches.

We are proud of our staff and want to ensure their training allows them to provide excellent clinical care. We are also a training unit for medical students from UCL and St George's University Grenada, and for nursing and midwifery students from Middlesex and City Universities.

Take a tour of our hospitalhere

To be responsible for the clinical provision of diabetic/high risk foot care.

To undertake tailored care packages dependent on patient's complex needs. To use advanced clinical reasoning skills and appropriate assessment techniques to provide an accurate clinical diagnosis of their condition.

Formulate and deliver individual treatment plans based on a sound knowledge of evidence-based practice and utilize extended skills such as offloading and performing ABPi's/toe pressures as necessary.

To evaluate and review agreed patient treatment outcomes to facilitate patients' engagement/self-care/onward referral.

To work in close collaboration with the community foot protection team including the Diabetic Specialist Nurse, Tissue Viability Specialist and DNs to ensure an Holistic approach to the management of the 'at-risk' and 'high risk patient.

To take a proactive role in the planning and delivery of Health Promotion and Health Education to users and health care professionals (HCP). Including promoting the department services to other HCP to ensure appropriate patients are referred to Podiatry.

To understand offloading the high-risk foot and prescribe, modify, and fit off the shelf orthoses/insoles as required. To liaise with extended care network including orthopaedics, and surgical appliances to ensure that the patients' rehabilitation needs are met.

Assess patient understanding of treatment proposals, gain valid informed consent, and have the capacity to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.

To work within Trust clinical guidelines, national and professional body guidelines and standards, thus, to have a good working knowledge of national and local standards and monitor own and others quality of practice as appropriate.

To be responsible for maintaining accurate comprehensive patient treatment records in line with recognised professional standards of practice (i.e. Royal College of Podiatrists) and RFL policies. To record patient appointment outcomes on Rio within 24 hours.

To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of own work, including the management of patients in your care.

Where appropriate, to supervise and provide mentoring to other podiatrists and foot care assistants.

To be responsible for the maintenance and security of stock in own work area.

To manage and develop in-house diabetic/high risk training events, and to participate in and attend staff and therapy team meetings.

To refer patients on as necessary to other healthcare professionals to ensure appropriate care is provided and to follow Trust referral timelines.