This is a question clients have been asking me since my first day at University studying my undergraduate degree in Podiatry. It may seem strange that there are two distinct titles and most Podiatrists will tell you "there is no difference", however this is both correct in one way but incorrect in many, so I will explain.
Foot Health Professionals have been practicing in England since before the 1700s in one form or another. Traditionally described as "Corn cutters" (a term to describe those who removed corns, ingrown toenails and alleviate painful bunions), these individuals had no formal training and would also provide the services of a barber and dentist, truly a "jack of all trades".
The word chiropody can be traced back to the title of a book Chiropodologia, or a Scientfic Enquiry into the Causes of Corns, Warts, Onions and Other Painful or Offensive Cutaneous Excrescences, written by David Low and published in 1785.
The multinational nature of the city of London in the victorian era bought Chiropodists from many nations including Germany and the United States of America, with Lewis Durlacher a British born descendent of a German migrant corn cutter and dentist who established a clinic in St. James Square London and had clients including George IV, William IV and Queen Victoria.
In 1912 Lewis Durlacher and Dr Arnold Whittaker Oxford established the British Chiropodical Society and a year later, the precursor to the London Foot Hospital, the Pedic Clinic. The Pedic Clinic opened in November 1913 in a 7-roomed cornerhouse at 1-3 Silver Street, Bloomsbury, a dedicatory service being conducted by the Bishop of Willesden. It was the first clinic of its kind in the country; no such institution had previously existed where poor people could be treated for disabling foot disorders. It can be regarded as the birthplace of British chiropody. Clinics were held in the evenings, as the staff needed to make their livings, giving their chiropody service here for free.
As the more traditional, ‘old school’ practitioners deemed a need for regulation necessary; exams were established in 1919 for new members to the Incorporated Society. In 1939 the first register of chiropodists was published which had 1,029 members who were allowed to receive patients without medical referral and to diagnose and prescribe. Practice was to involve the “nails, skin excrescences (corns, callus, warts), bunions but not congenital or acquired deformities requiring anaesthesia or incisions below the true skin”.
In 1920 the Pedic Clinic moved to 98 Charlotte Street and, in 1924, it was renamed the London Foot Hospital. In 1948 the Hospital was incorporated into the NHS and was administered by the Paddington Group Hospital Management Committee, part of the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. The School of Podiatric Medicine was the only school of chiropody in the NHS.
Chiropody was available on the National Health Service since 1960. In the 1970s British Chiropodists who had undertaken training alongside American counterparts (termed Podiatrists) in the USA started using Local Anaesthetics despite no formal training, which led to the introduction of unapproved courses, led by the Croydon Post Graduate group.
To combat this unauthorised use in the early 1980s state registered chiropodists who had undergone post-registration training in foot surgery and had qualified as Fellows of the Podiatry Asssociation (FPodA) began using Local Anaesthesia and providing day case foot surgery within the NHS.
It was not until the formal government registration process in 2005 by the Health Care Professions Council that the titles were formally protected of Chiropodist and Podiatrist. To use these titles non-approved courses such as the SMAE or Dr. Scholl Chiropody or Diploma in Podiatric Medicine (DPodM) would be "grandparented" onto the register but further additional training to obtain a Bachelor of Science Degree would be required to have access to Local Anaesthesia, perform surgery and prescribe antibiotics.
The traditional Chiropody courses stopped as they were not eligible for registration and all Eligible courses would now use the Podiatry title to align with the USA counterparts. This therefroe led to "Chiropodists" who could perform Chiropody - the routine care of the feet, but not "Podiatry" the advanced medical treatment of the foot, ankle and associated structures. Many of the Chiropodists who were grandparented onto the HPC register never went further education and therefore had limited practice. The public however still remembered the title and it was advantageous to maintain its use in private practice and therefore continued.
In 2021 the Society of Chiropodists and Podiatrists gained Royal status and has changed its name to the Royal College of Podiatry in line with the Royal College of Medicine, and therefore Podiatry members are advised not to use the Chiropodist title, though permitted by Law.
So in short yes a Podiatrist is a Chiropodist but in practice a Chiropodist is not a Podiatrist, though they both have the right to use each name.
Sources
FARNDON, Lisa Jane. (2006). The function and purpose of core podiatry: An in- depth analysis of practice. Doctoral, Sheffield Hallam University (United Kingdom).
Klenerman, L. (1991). Podiatry, J Bone Joint Surg fBr/ 1991 ;73-B :1-2.
Hood et al. (1994) The effect of podiatric day care surgery on the need for National Health Service chiropody treatment, The Foot, 4, 155-158.
HCP Review of the grandparenting process (2005), accessible via https://www.hcpc-uk.org/globalassets/resources/reports/review-of-the-grandparenting-process.pdf?v=636785062220000000
Lost Hospitals of London, accessible via https://ezitis.myzen.co.uk/londonfoot.html
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