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🔹Practice First Contact Physios and Community MSK Update
Practice First Contact Phyios Update
Of the MSK issues seen by our Practice First Contact Phyios (FCP), 85% require self management advice, with just 15% being referred onwards to the Community MSK Service or other services.
26% of conditions presented to our FCPs has been knee pain, and 21% has been lower back pain.
Our FCPs work from all of our sites, and their purpose is to assess, diagnose and where self management is not suitable they refer to the Community MSK Service.
Community MSK Update
Current wait time:
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- MSK CATS 18-20 wks
- Rheumatology 24 wks
- PSK Physio 5-7 wks
- Pain Management 9 wks
- Podiatry 15 weeks
- Chronic Fatique Syndrome 6 wks
To manage the current backlog in the Community MSK Service:
- All urgent appointments are seen with 2 weeks of referral acceptance.
- Ongoing weekend and evening clinics to manage long waiters.
- All long waiters in the service have received a harm review.
- Waiting well messages are updated on the provider website to ensure patients know how to contact the service if their condition worsens. Links to this information are sent to patients by text once referral is accepted.
- Letters encouraging any long waiter to call the service if they still require an MSK appointment. (Partial booking) letters are being sent to 400 longest waiters in the service every week to book appointments across all service lines. The community service is using additional resources from their national team to support the booking team to mitigate increase in call volumes.
- A consultant rheumatologist has now been appointed to the service and currently onboarding. This will improve rheumatology waiting times in in the coming months.
- Community service is utilising podiatrist resource from another service to manage sickness absence within the podiatry service whilst they explore other options.
- Booking portal to go live in June 25. This will allow patients to book, cancel and view their clinic letters. This is anticipated to dramatically improve patient experience and reduce cancellations and DNAs. The physiotherapy service will go live first, then this will be scaled up to all other service lines.
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