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Who are the Nail Carers?

The Nail Carers are a workforce that have been developed to provide a basic, quality foot care service which is affordable. Nail Carers are based in a growing number of locations across the city.

What Qualifications do the Nail Carers have?

Nail Carers are trained and assessed by Podiatrists and Beauty Therapists over a period of 14 weeks. Their training programme includes:

  • Toe nail and finger nail cutting, understanding their professional boundaries and knowing when to refer to a GP or NHS Podiatry
  • Foot and hand massage
  • Nail varnishing
  • General falls prevention advice
  • The importance of following safe working practices
  • An awareness of safeguarding vulnerable adult issues and when action needs to be taken
  • Health and Safety and other relevant legislation

Nail Carers are trained to cut the nails of people with diabetes; however they must seek authorisation to do so from a GP or other specialist before commencing a service. If you have diabetes the Nail Carer will normally either give you a form to take to your GP for his/her signature, or they will send it in the post and ask him/her to return it.

What support do Nail Carers have?

The NHS has commissioned the following support for Birmingham’s Registered Nail Carers:

  • A Nail Carer’s NHS help line that they can use when they have a query about their nail cutting; Nail Carers are also able to refer directly to an NHS Podiatrist for a specialist opinion or some additional routine help when appropriate
  • An annual supervision session for each Nail Carer to ensure they maintain their quality of care
  • An annual training session for each Nail Carer in order to keep them up to date with current issues

In order to Register they are required to:

  • Have completed the training and be certificated
  • Have appropriate insurance
  • Have had a Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) check
  • Sign up to and implement the Nail Carer contract of standards
  • Use instruments that are approved by the NHS Podiatrists
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