Podiatry in 2023/24

Review of the regulation of podiatric surgeons

In response to concerns about the high rate of notifications about podiatric surgeons, the Podiatry Board of Australia and Ahpra commissioned an independent review to look at the regulatory framework for podiatric surgeons, identify any risks to patient safety and recommend improvements to better protect the public. The review, which was led by Professor Ron Paterson, included a thorough examination of the Board’s regulatory framework for podiatric surgeons, a public consultation and interviews with stakeholders.

The final report was published in March. The Board and Ahpra have accepted all 14 recommendations, which relate to:

• registration and practice
• education and training
• title
• advertising
• handling of complaints
• system safety and quality.

The review found a good standard of care is provided by podiatric surgeons, with only a small number of practitioners generating the higher rate of notifications. No evidence was found for the need to reduce or regulate podiatric surgeons’ scope of practice. The review recommended measures to improve some aspects of the accreditation assessment of education programs and to align ongoing continuing professional development requirements more closely with those of medical practitioners.

Concerns were also raised about the title ‘podiatric surgeon’ in relation to clarity and transparency for the consumer about the type of practitioner they are seeing, and the type of training the practitioner has completed. The review recommended the Board seek health ministers’ approval to change the protected title for the specialty from ‘podiatric surgeon’ to an alternative title such as ‘surgical podiatrist’.

The Board and Ahpra will progressively implement the recommendations, which will involve wide-ranging consultation on these important reforms to strengthen the safety of podiatric surgery.

Policy updates

The Board began a scheduled review of its registration standard for endorsement of scheduled medicines and guidelines for podiatrists working with assistants in podiatry practice, which will involve wide-ranging consultation.

We consulted on new guidelines for registered health practitioners who perform and who advertise non-surgical cosmetic procedures, and revised English language skills and criminal history registration standards together with other National Boards.

We also published a checklist to help practitioners manage feedback and complaints. This checklist was jointly developed by Ahpra, the National Boards and the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.

Accreditation

The Board continued to assign the accreditation functions for the podiatry profession to the Podiatry Accreditation Committee for a period of five years from 1 July 2024, following a scheduled review of the accreditation arrangements with the other National Boards.

The Board considered reports from the committee on monitoring of podiatry programs and on accreditation decisions to decide whether to approve the accredited program of study as providing a qualification for registration.

Stakeholder engagement

The Board’s regular program of stakeholder engagement included publishing three newsletters and holding quarterly meetings with the Australian Podiatry Association, Podiatry Council of New South Wales and Podiatry Accreditation Committee. The Board also met with the Podiatrists Board of New Zealand, the Health Ombudsman Queensland, the National Health Practitioner Ombudsman, and local stakeholders in Adelaide and Melbourne.

Professor Cylie Williams, Chair