The orthotic services for both adults and children in the borough of Barking and Dagenham had a history of long delays in providing patients with their required support so we decided to enquire and find out whether they are meeting the needs of the residents.

We undertook a small piece of research to see what the views of patients were.

After speaking with professionals and interviewing 17 parents or carers of children between the ages of 18 months and 15, we found that the service was excellent. Most parents expressed they had to wait no more than 2 months to receive their first orthotic support from the initial assessment and felt it had made a positive difference to their child’s life.  All parents commented positively regarding the staff, said they felt listened to and given all the information they needed to feel confident about the service.