Suzy Taylor

Staff Stories: Suzy Taylor

In March 2011 Suzy Taylor became a fully qualified podiatric surgeon. It was the culmination of a remarkable career which began as a chiropodist, progressing through diabetic foot podiatrist and podiatric service manager to her current position: Allied Health Professional Consultant – Foot Health/Podiatry in the Specialist Foot Service, Greenwich Community Health Services (GCHS).

Suzy, who now lives in Bromley, was raised in Grove Park and over the years has got to know many people in the Oxleas area: “Wherever I go someone will ask me about their feet or toe nails.” While many might balk at such a prospect, Suzy does not seem to mind at all and is in fact enormously enthusiastic about her work.

Suzy joined GCHS in 2000 when she was recruited as Podiatric Service Manager and tasked with modernizing the service. With her customary gusto, she immediately set about shaking things up: “We opened up access to the service based on foot problem rather than age or demographics. People could now contact the service and refer themselves for a foot assessment.”

Suzy also realized that the service had no curative pathways and instead concentrated only on making people comfortable: “So my role was to set up a whole series of new treatment pathways. These included electro surgery - the removal of painful skin lesions – and injection therapy. Both were very effective.”

After four years, Suzy decided it was time for another challenge: “I thought I’d achieved what I wanted in my management career and as a result of the work I’d been doing decided I’d like to be a surgeon.”

Studying in her own time, Suzy passed her entrance exams and embarked on a work/study regime that most would find daunting. Thanks to GCHS’ flexible working policy, she was able to keep her day job and condense her working week into four days by working longer hours. The remaining time was set aside for surgery training.

Seven long years later, this March, Suzy says that she knew that she had passed her final exam when one of her examiners asked her a question about the off-side rule in football – a question which, like all the others – she was able to answer correctly.

In a week that is hardly less busy than when she was studying, Suzy now practices as a registrar surgeon for 15 hours and spends the rest of her time managing the musculo- skeletal service and complex wound service.

Suzy assesses patients in pre-operation appointments in Garland Road Health Centre, Plumstead. All options are considered before surgery is decided upon and she only takes people she can help – Suzy does not for example carry out cosmetic work.  If surgery is necessary, she performs the operations in the day surgery unit in Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Woolwich.

Patients are looked after from assessment to discharge and Suzy says that podiatric surgery provides real benefits: “We offer a very innovative, cost efficient and high quality service. All foot operations used to be performed by orthopaedic surgeons, which meant a general anesthetic and several days in hospital. Plaster casts were often used which as well as being uncomfortable carried the risk of deep vein thrombosis. Podiatric surgeons, on the other hand, use a local anaesthetic which is more comfortable for the patient and saves around £500 per person - and that’s before savings on hospital beds. As the patients are awake throughout it is important to get on well with them and establish a relationship of trust. Typical operations could be bunion or hammer toe correction. We get fantastic feedback from our patients – last year the satisfaction rate was 92%”.