Mary Henry (Independent)

As the Minister of State can imagine, I am delighted with this amendment having spent a great deal of time arguing that "podiatrist" should be the terminology used in the Bill. I thank him very much for the change. The change is important because a degree in podiatry will be recognised; that is covered in Schedule 3. If we are to recognise a degree in podiatry we are obliged to have that description in the Bill. I am glad this sensible amendment is being made.

A concern I have is that we do not yet have a school of podiatry in this country and, unfortunately, as the Minister of State will be aware from his professional background, we do not need one school but several because with people living longer and the huge increase in the incidence of diabetes, many more people badly need the care of podiatrists from a medical point of view. That is not just to keep them on their legs but to ensure they are not overtaken by complications of illness, which require them to be admitted to hospital in some cases, whereas if they had access to a qualified podiatrist on a regular basis, all would be well. The school of podiatry must be established as soon as possible.

That is also important from the point of view of the establishment of the board to regulate podiatrists because a member of that board must be someone qualified in podiatry in this country. The fact that we do not have such a person is a complication. I suggested during the passage of the Bill through this House that we should take someone with a qualification from outside the country until a school of podiatry is established here. We need someone with experience to become a member of the board but that is not covered in the Bill. When replying, will the Minister of State explain how that will be dealt with? Will someone from an academic institution with a qualification in podiatry be available to go on the board or will it be someone who is working in a school of podiatry here? We may not be able to acquire someone like that for quite some time and I would not wish to see any delay in the setting up of the board for podiatrists.