Chiropodist treated my feet and now I'm worried

[Generallyok]

Apologies if I am panicking but this afternoon a mobile chiropodist visited my mum and while he was at her house I called in. I told him i had a stubborn verruca. He said he would look at it for me and cut a bit of skin and made it bleed. It didn't hurt but he put some acid on top. At the end of the treatment he asked for some boiling water to pour on to his instruments as he had run out of sterilised instruments. I'm now fretting that his hygiene might not be upto scratch as surely pouring boiling water is not enough? Therefore I'm now paranoid that I have put myself at risk of picking something up- hepatitis, HIV etc. Am I unnecessarily worrying?

I wouldn't be happy either!

He needs reporting, not sure who to though!

I could be wrong but I don't think anything like HIV can survive outside of the body for long at all?

I'm assuming (hoping ) that he was private not nhs? If nhs - put in a complain. If private, is he registered?

Get an hiv test asap look on nhs website for your nearest. There are meds available for potential hiv exposure but time is of the essence. Call nhs helpline.

Ok I have health anxiety and now I’m completely terrified.

He was private

Surely he used a disposable scalpel?
If not, he’d have to use at least a new scalpel blade anyway, as it would be blunt. Probably the scalpel handle is the thing boiling water was poured onto.
It doesn’t sound a good experience, but stop worrying about contracting blood borne viruses. Don’t use him again.

the only appropriate and safe methods of decontaminating and sterilising surgical instruments are steam sterilisation (autoclaving) and irradiation, but only after the appropriate cleaning has been done. This cannot be done in domestic premises.
If this was a NHS Podiatrist, you need to contact the healthcare provider he is employed by, start by phoning your local NHS CCG.
If private then contact the local Council Trading Standards and the Professional body the chiropodist is registered with. This should be on his contact details/website.
Also contact your GP, if you have been treated with unsterile instruments and drawn blood, you will need blood tests to rule out blood borne viruses.
Don't panic - the chances of your having been infected are low to very low, but still need investigating.
If this person is not using property sterilised instruments then he needs to be stopped.

It's unlikely but not impossible that he's be spreading nasties. It's pretty gross though even if he's not. Why not talk to 111/ OOH GP or possibly a&e re post exposure prophylaxis for HIV - they may have guidelines/better figures regarding risk of transmission. It takes a while to sero-convert even if HIV is passed on so a test now would be negative. I would not let this dude look after you/your mum again.

If he is registered with the Health Care Professions Council (HCPC) you could report it to them, but his employers would be my first port of call.

Did you see what he cleaned?

HIV cannot be passed this way

Hi podiatrist here. Please start by looking at any advertising materials. If the man is calling himself a ‘foot health practitioner’ this means that he has not undertaken a three year degree leading to registration with the HCPC (Health and Care Professsions Council). I would then google the man’s qualifications to provide details of where to go next. Most of us who have studied for three years now call ourselves podiatrists not chiropodists.however, if he is doing so, he must be registered with the HCPC. You can google the HCPC and look him up by his name to find his registration number to make a complaint.

I hope this helps

I will try and find out Sparklepunk. Please could I ask you - there is no way that this could be correct practice could it? He said to my mum all things that live on the skin would be killed with boiling water.

ALY44 If blood was drawn from a contaminated person using a certain instrument and this was then used on another and drew blood,then yes it most definitely can. Not wanting to worry you OP as the chances of that are pretty slim,just setting the record straight,but perhaps get a health check and report this person.

All instruments that we use are either single use and disposed of after one use, or should go through and autoclave cycle. Cold sterilisation methods went out in the 1980s. How old is the “chiropodist” May I ask?

He is semi retired but been a chiropodist for 40 years

But did he want to clean instruments he was already using during your treatment or clean instruments used on a previous patient and then use them on you?

Bit lax really

If he didn’t have enough clean instruments for the following patient he should not have treated you. I think you need to look up his qualifications. Chiropodist and podiatrist are legally protected names. If he is using chiropodist, he should be on the HCPC register and you can complain. If he is using the name and not on the HCPC register then he needs reporting to the HCPC for this issue in addition to reporting to his own body for the instruments.

I have checked him out and he is registered as H.P.C registered.. My mum told me the items he poured water over clippers etc and he said they only need warm water. She is sure he used a new blade for me which he took out of packet.

well at least you know where to direct a concern to.

Sparklepunk so can I check with clippers should not be used on another person without being sterilised between paitients?

You are correct. Nippers should be sterilised using an autoclave between patients. Or new if single use.