A leaflet from the NHS, and a phone that keeps ringing
NHS podiatry services in many areas focus on patients with higher clinical need, and patients who only need routine nail and skin care may be discharged and advised to find a private podiatrist. They arrive with a letter or leaflet listing local practices. Your clinic is on it.
The calls follow a pattern. Most are older people or their family. Many ask about home visits. Some mention diabetes or blood thinners. All ask about cost. When the diary is full, they ask to be put on a list, which lives on a notepad by the phone.
Why this intake is hard to manage
- Calls come in bursts, often after an NHS service reviews its caseload.
- Each caller needs the same information about fees, home visits and what routine care includes.
- Details your podiatrists need before a first visit, such as medications and mobility, are gathered inconsistently.
- Home visit requests need an address and access notes, and have to fit into rounds.
- The waiting list is informal, so people are forgotten or called in the wrong order.
What an informal intake costs
Long calls that repeat the same information. First visits that start with a lengthy history because nothing was collected in advance. Housebound patients waiting for a round that passes their street. Families who call back several times because they were not sure they were on the list. And a clinic unable to see how many people are waiting.
| Caller need | Intake route | What happens next |
|---|---|---|
| Routine care in clinic | Online form or call script | Book directly or join the clinic waiting list |
| Home visit | Form with address and access | Placed on the domiciliary waiting list by area |
| Unsure what they need | Callback request | Reception or podiatrist calls |
| Family member on behalf | Form with contact and relationship | Updates go to them if the patient agrees |
How we build the intake route
- A short page on your website for people discharged from NHS podiatry, in plain words: what routine care includes, your fees, whether you do home visits and in which areas.
- An intake form, which reception can also complete during a call using the same screens, collects contact details, clinic or home visit preference, address and access for home visits, and the pre-visit questions your podiatrists set.
- Clinic patients can book directly if there is space, or join a clinic waiting list.
- Home visit patients join a waiting list grouped by area, which feeds your round planning.
- Everyone on a waiting list receives confirmation that they are on it, and an update if the wait is long.
- When a slot or round opens, the next suitable person is offered it by text, letter or call.
- Answers go into Cliniko, WriteUpp or your system when the patient is booked, so the podiatrist sees them before the first visit.
What the pre-visit questions are, and whether a patient is suitable for your service, is decided by your podiatrists.
What the intake looks like afterwards
Callers get consistent information in less time, or find it on the website. Waiting lists are real lists, grouped by clinic and area, and people know they are on them. First visits start with the basics already known. Home visit patients are added to the rounds that suit their address. And you can see at a glance how many discharged patients are waiting for your service.
Is this happening to your clinic?
- You receive calls from patients discharged from NHS podiatry.
- Your waiting list is on paper or in someone's head.
- Home visit requests are hard to fit into rounds.
- First visits start with a long history-taking.
- Families call back to check they are on the list.