Lifestyle

Next steps for the Fane Clinic

The Fane Clinic have been providing Foot Care for the city’s residents since 1993, and since then they’ve continually evolved, taking their expertise into new areas of care and treatment. The Moment talks to the owner Adrian Woolley about further expansion plans for 2018

The Fane Clinic began by providing Foot Care in 1993, adding the provision of orthotics and Sports Injury Treatments as it grew. Do you have any further plans for growth?
Yes – and a good example of that relates to dementia. We have 11 practitioners providing Foot Care in over 30 residential and nursing homes across the country. I like to visit each home periodically to make sure all is running smoothly and the homes are happy with the service we are providing. Many of the residents our practitioners meet have some form of dementia which has prompted me to learn more about the disease. Firstly I became a “Dementia Friend “and am now what they call a ‘Dementia Champion’. This enables me to deliver a set presentation about dementia hopefully giving our practitioners, staff at the homes and potentially residents and their families a better understanding of living with dementia. The Alzheimer’s Society are hoping to have 4 million ‘Dementia Friends’ by 2020. Presently they have over 2.5 million registered.

What first inspired you to take this on?
It’s just something I felt I could do, to put something back, perhaps making my visits to each home more worthwhile. This is something I intend to offer free of charge. All our staff here at the clinic are Dementia Friends, so have sat in on the presentation. The idea is to spread the word, because one in 14 people over 65 are going to get it, so the chances are we’ll all know somebody with dementia at some point in our lives. We’re a very holistic practice – treating the whole person, not just a symptom – so that fits very well with our philosophy.

How else are you looking to develop your services in 2018?
Podiatrist Kevin Watts and myself are looking to make the clinic a Centre of Excellence in providing Diabetic Foot Care. What we are doing to do involves several things, but first of all it’s about educating patients and their families who may not be aware what a serious disease diabetes is. We would like patients with diabetes to consider having Foot Care on a six-weekly basis rather than the sometimes infrequent check-ups offered on the NHS. I’m also putting myself and some of the staff on a course so we can advise on footwear for diabetics as they wrong type of footwear can cause callouses and blistering which in a diabetic can lead to diabetic ulcers. Once a diabetic ulcer is established only 50% of suffers will survive the next 5 years. Worldwide, there is an amputation as a result of diabetes every thirty seconds. The staff working in the Foot Care side of our business are already very well versed in those issues, but I want the rest of the staff to have an understanding of them too, and to have some information freely available in the clinic for patients and families.

With regular good Foot Care our practitioners will spot the warning signs. So, it’s much more than just having your feet pampered. This is a medical need. To tie the orthotics side of the business into our plans – I’m working with our supplier on new materials to design a bespoke diabetic orthotic to help prevent the foot problems associated with diabetes including falling. One of our Foot Care team Stephanie, has just embarked on some biomechanical courses to increase her knowledge with a view to assisting me in the orthotics side of the business.

I hear you are also taking on a new therapist?
Yes I’d like to Welcome Lynne Canning who has been working as a body therapist for the last 17 years from her private clinic in Baston. Starting out as a Holistic therapist, Lynne went on to train at the world renowned Dr Vodder School in Austria, to specialise in Manual Lymphatic Drainage (MLD) therapy. Working with patients with primary/ secondary lymphoedema and lipoedema. Lynne uses MLD to support congestive conditions, post-surgical swelling including hip and knee replacements, and cosmetic surgery. Lynne is passionate about her work, as well as educating her patients in self-managing techniques, working holistically with mind and body. She brings a wealth of knowledge with Bowen and Reflex lymphatic drainage therapy also among her list of treatments offered.

For more information on Manual Lymphatic Drainage, you can visit: www. mlduk.org.uk In addition to that, we’re also looking at opening on Saturday mornings because we’re so busy – just to catch people who work long hours throughout the week. Although we’re open 8am-7pm four days a week, there are still some people who can’t make those hours, so in June we’re going to be opening one Saturday a month to see how that goes.

Is that tough, losing a bit of your weekend..?
No! To be honest, ‘work’ and ‘life’ aren’t really separate things for me. I’m just as passionate about it now as when I started and I like to think of our patients as friends. I love doing what I do, and really just want to keep on helping as many people as possible.

The Fane Clinic The Old Farmhouse, Freston, Paston Ridings, Peterborough PE4 7XB. 01733 571555 www.thefaneclinic.co.uk

Image: www.freepik.com/free-photo/summer-sea-luxury-women-holidays-resort_1238659

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