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"needed a plan"

About: Beech Hall Centre / podiatry

(as a service user),

I have been type one diabetic for almost forty years. I'm very much in control of this and have no issues with it. I also take a biologic injection for another condition. I'm happy to never need much medical input. 

In June I noticed a pain in my foot but as I had a routine podiatry appointment I didn't think much of it. It developed into a blister, when I seen this team the next day they lanced and cleaned it and put a dressing on. Both my conditions mean this blister could have been very serious and it's the first time I've had anything like this happen. The podiatrist contacted my GP and recommended a course of antibiotics which I completed. 

For the next few weeks I kept going to get dressings changed and seen a different person each time. There didn't seem to be a concrete plan for moving forward apart from another appointment next week for another dressing change. 

Last week I seen yet another person from the team who again removed the dressing and said 'it doesn't look infected'. I took a photo, it was green. It was definitely infected. As I was definitely not happy to return to this area again I said I needed a plan. She referred me to the diabetic foot team in rvh. I'd been attending for a few weeks now and don't feel it was helpful for me to have to ask after so long, I feel one of the team should have taken this initiative as part of their duty of care. 

The lady who made the referral said it might not be accepted by the team. I did wonder, given that I am T1 taking a biologic drug and having an infected ulcer on my foot, how she worded the referral to make it possible to be rejected. Anyway. 

Podiatrist in rvh the following week had a feel around. Long story short I have a pet hair which has caused the wound. And nobody in beech hall picked it up. Had I not made a bit of a scene I could have gone on for a long time getting dressings done every week and more and more antibiotics. This is not good at all. 

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Responses

Response from Wendy McLaughlin, Head of Podiatry Services, Podiatry, BHSCT last month
Wendy McLaughlin
Head of Podiatry Services, Podiatry,
BHSCT
Submitted on 25/08/2025 at 18:21
Published on Care Opinion at 18:21


Thank you for taking the time to send us your feedback. I am sorry to hear that your experience with the Podiatry department did not meet your expectations. We value all feedback so that we can make all necessary improvements to our service. I would be very keen to speak with you in person and investigate your complaint in more detail. If you are happy to contact the department ask to speak with Wendy McLaughlin or I can call you back if I am in a meeting. Kind regards

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