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The Scottish Executive has supported NHS trusts by pump-priming the development of nurse consultant posts and in providing £6 million for a specialist nurse initiative to train an additional 210 specialist nurses.I expect NHS trusts to address their current needs and to determine the staffing requirements to meet these.

The Scottish Executive has not conducted a survey of the research in this area. The outcomes of research of this nature will be reported in the professional literature. Chiropody and podiatry services are part of the range of services provided by Primary Care NHS Trusts. It is for the NHS locally to make an assessment of the needs of the local population.

The Scottish Executive has not conducted a survey of the research in this area. The outcomes of research of this nature will be reported in the professional literature. Chiropody and podiatry services are part of the range of services provided by Primary Care NHS trusts. It is for local NHS management to ensure that the provision of services is, where possible evidence based, and in accordance with good professional practice to secure improvements in health.

The information requested is not collected centrally. However, as Patient Focus, Public Involvement which was published in December of last year states, feedback on the services the NHS provides should be solicited in a range of ways. A well-targeted survey can provide useful data on specific elements of service user experience. Guidance on the use of surveys in the NHS, based on research carried out in conjunction with the Scottish Consumer Council, will be published shortly. This guidance will be supplemented by information on alternative ways of soliciting feedback from service users.

Information on the number of chiropodists directly employed by NHSScotland is shown in the following table.

Chiropodists1 directly employed by NHSScotland
Headcount and Whole Time Equivalent at 30 September
	Headcount	WTE
1996	680	595.8
1997	699	606.9
1998	701	608.9
1999	735	633.0
2000	741	634.7

Source: National Manpower Statistics from payroll ISD Scotland.Note:1. Comprises qualified staff only and includes podiatrists.

Chiropody and podiatry services are part of the range of services provided by Primary Care NHS Trusts. It is for the NHS locally to make an assessment of the needs of the local population.

The only information that is collected centrally on the cost of chiropody/podiatry services is the cost of an out-patient attendance at a clinic where the patient is seen by a chiropodist. The average cost of an attendance in 2000-01 was £19.

The Scottish Diabetes Group, the recently established national steering group for the implementation of the Scottish Diabetes Framework, will be taking forward work in relation to diabetic foot care. One of the action points of Scottish Diabetes Framework is to commission (by January 2003) a workforce study of diabetes services in hospitals and the community.

Information on the number of foot operations performed as in-patients or day cases in the speciality of orthopaedics since 1997-1998, by NHS board of residence, is provided in the following table. In that period, no surgical cases were recorded in the speciality Surgical Podiatry. Information on operations undertaken in an out-patient setting is not available centrally.The treatment of patients by a Podiatrist is generally undertaken in a primary care setting or at sessions at NHSScotland hospitals, clinics or other Health Service facilities staffed by Professions Allied to Medicine. Information on services provided by Professions Allied to Medicine is not collected centrally. NHSScotland: Number Of In-patient And Day Case Foot¹ Operations Performed By A Consultant In The Specialty Of Orthopaedics. Years Ending 31 March 1998-2001 And 6 Months to 30 September 2001

NHS Board	31 March 1998	31 March 1999	31 March 2000	31 March 2001	6 Months to 30 September 2001P
Argyll and Clyde	162	204	149	155	87
Ayrshire and Arran	193	187	160	189	58
Borders	27	44	47	55	25
Dumfries and Galloway	41	56	64	47	8
Fife	167	204	133	139	67
Forth Valley	105	108	93	116	45
Grampian	232	287	290	222	102
Greater Glasgow	303	305	325	272	117
Highland	68	99	90	89	36
Lanarkshire	195	214	186	166	68
Lothian	296	330	285	380	221
Orkney	5	8	1	3	1
Shetland	6	8	7	5	5
Tayside	258	233	209	170	85
Western Isles	7	8	11	3	1
Scotland	2,065	2,295	2,050	2,011	926

Source: ISD Scotland, SMR01.^p Provisional.Note:¹ Foot operations are defined as OPCS4 codes W03, W04 and W15 or any operation with a supplementary classification of 'site of operation' of Z79, Z80, and Z90.5.

There are no plans to publish guidance of this nature. It is for the NHS locally to determine the range and level of services to be provided.