Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 25 November 2020 to Question 117281, what assessment his Department been made of the long term sustainability of podiatry.

As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, allied health professionals (AHPs), including podiatrists, were highlighted as being able to significantly support areas of increasing demand for treatment due to diseases such as diabetes.

Podiatry is acknowledged as a profession in shortage due to a small amount of training providers, with the NHS workforce decreasing over recent years. To tackle these issues, the Government has introduced the new, non-repayable, training grant of at least £5,000 per academic year in September 2020, for all eligible new and continuing pre-registration nursing, midwifery and most allied health profession students, including podiatrists, studying at English universities.