A multidisciplinary approach to foot surgery waiting lists

Abstract

The effectiveness of waiting list initiatives is well established. A foot surgery waiting list initiative was undertaken. A pool of 337 patients waiting over 9 months for foot surgery was created. This group was written to asking if they still wanted surgery. Patients who replied positively were given appointments for combined orthopaedic-chiropody clinics. A questionnaire to assess attitudes to foot disorders, foot surgery and chiropody was given to patients on arrival at the clinics. 187 patients attended the clinics; 65 were considered to still need surgery and had their operations within 2 weeks of clinic attendance. The remaining patients had already had surgery (14), were offered chiropodial treatment (30), were given advice only (65) or were referred back to their original consultant. 52% replied to the questionnaire and half of these had previously consulted a chiropodist. 82% of patients had problems with footwear. Patients appeared to have low expectations from chiropody in contrast to surgery. Only one-third of patients felt the proposed surgery was satisfactorily explained to them. This initiative reduced the number of patients waiting over 9 months for foot surgery by 60%. The value of non-operative or chiropodial treatment of foot disorders has been brought home to patients.