Husband has been in hospital 3 months and his poor feet are awful. He has since been diagnosed with T2diabetes since his stroke so I would have thought he was eligible.
Wasting so much time looking for the answer, even on Diabetes UK.
We need a podiatrist/chiropodist to come to house as he cannot walk and I Can’t get him in a car.
I asked at our surgery and they said we have to pay privately. Not sure that’s correct. Thanks
@Penny yes I am afraid so due to penny pinching in the NHS, they cut certain services. if you book any privatley ask around as some say they are good but are not. I do my parents espcially after the mess they did on dads.
Penny, is your husband now entitled to highest PiP?
As he had a stroke, he is probably entitled to exemption from Council Tax.
Not a direct answer to your question, I know, but sometimes there might be money available that you are not aware of.
Has he had a Needs Assessment done, and has your Carers Assessment been updated to reflect the fact that have two carees? I know how tough being a multiple carer can be.
I have counselling and gym membership funded, but don’t use either at the moment. Instead I’m having a massage or facial or short break instead. Off to Devon for 4 nights soon, uninterrupted sewing!
He is over pension age so no PIP.
We hope to apply foR ATTENDANCE Allowance.
How do I get carers assessment updated?
Hope you really enjoy your trip to Devon. Xx
Hi Penny.
Graham is a Podiatrist and I ran our Private Practice. Regrettably more and more patients came to us as NHS refused them treatment. Initially they cut out routine nail cutting and then things got stricter and stricter.
Locally it is totally ridiculous and even our colleagues in NHS would tell us that they were only allowed to treat the most serious conditions - completely ignoring the fact that minor problems become MAJOR in patients with restricted mobility etc. This then costs far more to deal with. The Podiatry Service has become a Crisis Service only. They have even cut right back on Preventative Diabetic Footcare. Now they wait til people are in agony with festering diabetic ulcers and in danger of losing toes or limbs before there is any intervention.
I dislike saying this, even though we were in Private Practice, but you do need to check carefully what qualifications a person has. Not everyone is a Podiatrist/Chiropodist as those are still “Protected Titles”, so you will find a plethera of FootCare Practitioners (or similar names) and I regret to say some of them should not be let near a foot.as it is possible to gain a minimum qualification in just a matter of weeks, whereas a Pod/Chiropodist will be trained for three years at Degree level and must be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council who regulate a number of Professions.
Don’t be afraid to ask what qualifications someone has and if their premises are registered with the Local Authority. A woman near our clinic was asked by one of our patients how she sterilised instruments and was told ‘oh don’t worry dear I give them a good wipe between patients’… I was horrified as we spent a fortune on infection control and sterilisation.
Anyway - that’s me on a soap box and telling horror stories.
I hope you manage to get some provision for your husband. Nag the GP to get a referral as they WILL do domicillary visits if you push and repeatedly tell them he is housebound. Again you need to be blunt about it.
Definitely apply for AA. I can’t remember if there is a qualifying period?
I asked DWP to send a Visiting Officer to help do M’s PIP form as I can’t write by hand. He was very good.
As soon as it’s granted apply to the council for exemption.
I hate the term “severe mental impairment” but sadly that is what the stroke has caused.
It’s very easy to apply (!) the council sends you a form for details of your GP.
They write to the GP asking for medical details.
Once the GP has written to them, the council should make your husband exempt.
Ask the council for a new Carers Assessment as your situation has changed.
From memory the main criteria is that the condition must be going to last for at least six months!
Good luck.
Thanks Chris. I already knew to keep away from the Foot Health people. Now my husband has type 2 diabetes I want to get off to a good start with his footcare so wanted a well qualified person.
Diabetes UK say that all diabetics are eligible for a yearly foot check so I will be pushing the GP to get him a referral. It must surely make more sense to encourage patients to keep an eye on their feet and report any problems rather than letting them deteriorate and then need surgery and painful feet.
The GP said we will have to pay privately and said nothing about annual check. I was then told by him of a “chiropodist” who rents a room at the surgery. I know of her and she is not a qualified chiropodist/podiatrist but a Foot Health Practitioner. I told the receptionist this and told her that chiropodist/podiatrist is a protected title and the surgery should not be describing her as one.
Penny, I didn’t know about free chiropody, thanks for the tip off. Mine costs £45 every 2 months, she used to work in a diabetic department and full of useful tips. With my knee replacements my feet are not easy to manage.
Meanwhile, her top tip is to ask your GP to prescribe a pump of Flexitol cream, and to keep feet well moisturised, ideally twice a day. (Metformin can cause nails and skin to thicken). Cracks in the heels can let bacteria in, leaving people prone to cellulitis.
@Penny @bowlingbun Regrettably the NHS guidelines say diabetics are entitled to free foot checks - however… the interpretation and threshold is determined locally and in our area there is NO CHANCE of any help unless suffering from a very serious condition - foot ulcers etc.
I would strongly endorse the use of Flexitol. We tried it when it first came out and gave free samples to our patients who started clamouring for more. I managed to negotiate an amazing deal with our supplier backed by the national Chiropody Rep from the company which manufactures it. I was able to under-cut Boots and the other “big boys” (but then we didnt sell it just to make profit - it was more to help patients 
). I love putting signs in the window with comparisons of their prices and ours!! (Boots £9.95 - US £7.90) and we still made a nice profit!
Seriously Flexitol heel balm or foot cream works wonders and as BB said, it resolves fissures/cracks in the skin thus preventing bugs getting in and starting infections.
Well done for challenging the GP practice - if the person is calling herself a Podiatrist/Chiropodist they MUST by law be registered with the HCPC or they can face action. I would add that SOME FHP’s are better qualified than others, but my Dad used one for Mum many years ago and one Sunday when she was in a lot of pain asked if G could look at her foot - he found a massive, infected ulcer which they guy had said was “nothing - just a bruise”. If G had not seen it the infection would have developed and she could have lost the foot. G told Dad what to say to GP and they had District Nurse visiting alternate days for six weeks til it started to heel properly. OK a horror story, but shows that someone with limited knowledge can do harm.
@bowlingbun would you like to point out to Graham that he needs to look after his feet? A Podiatrist with feet like his should be ashamed. Mind you the diabetes nurse - my “friend” Susie blamed ME and said it was all my fault for not looking after his feet properly…
That’s such a helpful tip about the cream Bowlingbun - I didn’t know that and so I will get some ordered for my hubby who is a wheelchair user - thank you 
Chris, that is so very unfair!
I bet she has no idea of what it is like to care 24/7 with no respite for years, AND run a house and run around sorting out medication appointments etc etc.
Is it so difficult to think about our broken dreams?
I HAD 16 years without a child free day, the final year of M being at home I was so run down I had 14 courses of antibiotics. Then my GP stepped in and insisted M became a boarder at school.I cried buckets.
Why can’t people see our tiredness and say something nice, or nothing at all?
She is the nurse I have complained ab out and all the staff seem to have a low opinion of her - comments made by other nurses point at that!!! She’d been on sick leave for some time now - thankfully…
I have used Flexitol for many years. It is brilliant. I get very dry heels and used regularly really does work. It is often on discount at Superdrug.
I have tried every chiropodist/podiatrist in a good radius of our home and cannot find a single one to do a home visit. As my husband cannot stand there is no way I can get him in a car yet.
A good friend has recommended a FHP who has been treating her disabled son and herself. She has been working for many years so fingers crossed. She is coming tomorrow afternoon.