22/02/2026
A snippet of my time in the high risk foot clinic at Whakatāne Hospital
We’re celebrating 🎉 World Allied Health Professions Day on Friday 14 October to acknowledge and celebrate the skills, achievements and value that allied health professionals bring to the provision of health and wellbeing services.
Our Allied Health, Scientific and Technical workforce is diverse - made up of more than 53 professions including dieticians, social workers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, pharmacists, anaesthetic technicians, laboratory technicians, radiographers, and oral health therapists.
In the lead up to World Allied Health Professions Day, we’d like to introduce you to some of our team…
Heidi Barton, Podiatrist 👏
A typical day for me is…
Running a busy outpatients clinic in Te Koru at Whakatāne Hospital. No two days or hours are the same, but my main goals with people accessing my service are wound care, wound prevention, and lower limb salvage.
I work with a lot of people with complex, high risk feet such as people with diabetes, peripheral vascular disease, and end stage renal failure. I also work in with other specialists involved in their care. My day usually consists of dressings and debridement, lots of goal setting with patients and education.
I love my job because….
I get to meet such a huge variety of people and empower them, with education, to keep their legs and feet healthy. It is so rewarding getting those tricky wounds to finally heal up. We know that structured podiatry services like this can prevent up to half of diabetes-related amputations. It’s a wonderful feeling, knowing I am a part of that!