Patient satisfaction survey of a newly established footwear bank in a rehabilitation hospital

Background The Peter James Centre (PJC) is the main rehabilitation hospital in Eastern Health. It provides a comprehensive inpatient and community rehabilitation programme. A Footwear Bank was established by the Podiatry Department in 2009 following an audit in 2007 that found 30% of the patients were not wearing suitable shoes to their therapy. The problem of finding suitable footwear had been made more difficult because three of the local shoe shops closed down. The Footwear Bank stocks several types of shoes, all with Velcro straps. The three objectives were to assess patient satisfaction regarding the service of the Footwear Bank, the quality of the footwear and whether the footwear was still being worn after discharge from PJC.