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The one in three older people who can’t cut their nails hit by lack of services

Older people across England are being left housebound and disabled by a lack of footcare services according to Feet for Purpose‚ a major new report from Age Concern.

One in three people over 65 – over two million older people in England – cannot cut their own nails. Increasingly nail cutting and other footcare services are being withdrawn or restricted by the NHS‚   Although nail cutting may sound trivial‚ lack of even the most basic footcare frequently leads to complications that can result in dangerous falls‚ severe restrictions on mobility and social isolation.

Older people are increasingly being forced to rely on Age Concern services‚ suffer while on a long waiting list for NHS chiropody or pay for private footcare. The alternative – which affects many of the poorest and most vulnerable older people – is to take desperate measures or to lose independence and suffer deterioration of their physical and mental health.

Gordon Lishman‚ Director General of Age Concern‚ said:

“Foot care services are failing older people‚ and a postcode lottery is leaving those in some areas without any services at all.

“Some of the older people we have talked to are taking desperate measures including cutting their nails with gardening shears or kicking solid walls in their bare feet to break their nails. This would have been unacceptable in 1948 when the NHS was created‚ and it is certainly unacceptable nearly 60 years later.

“Footcare services should be free and universally available to those who need them – yet increasingly in many parts of England they are being restricted or withdrawn. Age Concerns do their best to help bridge the gaps in services‚ but many people are left without adequate footcare.

“The Department of Health must take a lead in resolving this problem and include chiropody in the NHS maximum waiting time target of 18 weeks.  Individual Primary Care Trusts must ensure that there are footcare services free at the point of use for all who need them.”

Age Concern‚ the UK’s leading charity for older people‚ is today launching a major new  campaign called ‘Feet for Purpose’.  The aim is to ensure older people who need footcare can receive it without the need to pay and thus ensure they can live independent and healthy lives. The services required range from professional chiropody treatment to simple nail cutting.

Notes to editor
Please email sam.heath@ace.org.uk for a copy of the report.
Case studies and spokespeople are available.