Our Services A - Z - Physiotherapy
About the service
Self-referral assessment - This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
You can refer yourself into this service without having to see your GP first.
However, please check that you meet the criteria below before proceeding:
- You have had your symptoms for more than 6 weeks
- You are at least 16 years old
- You are a patient registered with a GP in Southport, Formby or West Lancashire
- You do not have any specific appointment needs (e.g. sign language/physical accessibility/translator requirements or home visits due to being house-bound)
- You have not had recent changes in your bladder or bowel habits
- You have not had a problem with controlling your bladder or bowels
- You have not had a loss of sensation in or around your genitals, bottom or between your legs
If you do not meet all of the above criteria, please contact your GP about making a referral for you.
Medical emergencies
This service does not look after medical emergencies. If you think you need immediate medical help, please contact NHS 111 (dial 111 or) or go to https://111.nhs.uk/ for help.
However, if you feel your symptoms are very severe, you should go to your nearest A&E department or call for an ambulance immediately. For example, if you think you have:
- A life-threatening condition (for example, a heart attack or a stroke)
- A severe injury (for example, a broken bone)
- Such severe pain that you are incapacitated and barely able to talk
- Such severe symptoms that you cannot feel or move your arms or legs
- You feel seriously unwell and think you need urgent medical assistance
How do I get started?
Start your assessment by clicking here. This is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and will take about 5-10 minutes to complete.
This is a clinical assessment, designed and built by expert doctors and physiotherapists.
The aim of this assessment is to direct you to the correct person to help you with your problem.
FAQs
What if I don’t have an email address?
No problem! You don’t need to have an email address to complete this assessment, just enter this into the email box when asked: DART@optimahealth.co.uk
I sometimes have trouble using the internet, how can I access this self-assessment?
After you’ve entered your contact details, this assessment mostly consists of ticking boxes such as Yes, No and Next. It is very straightforward to complete and has been used by thousands of people of all ages. It’s okay to ask a family member or friend to help you do the assessment, as long as they are entering details about your problem. If you are unable to do the online assessment, please contact the Joint Health Hub on 01695 656268, where someone will be able to assist you.
I have other medical conditions I would like the physiotherapist to know about. How can I ensure this information gets to them?
Don’t worry – we have free text fields under every question where you can add further information if you want to.
What happens after I’ve completed my self-assessment?
Your assessment results will be immediately sent to the Joint Health Hub team and they will normally send you a letter with a physiotherapy appointment date.
In some cases, you might be advised to contact other NHS services. If this happens, you will be told what to do at the end of the assessment.
- Who are we?
The Joint Health Service is an integrated musculoskeletal (MSK) service providing assessment, investigations and treatment for patients with MSK conditions (problems with muscles, joints or bones).
The team includes an MSK physiotherapy consultant, MSK doctors, physiotherapists, advanced practice physiotherapists and specialist hand therapists.
The service offers a “one-stop shop” approach providing assessment and treatment plus access to investigations where indicated.
Referrals can also be diverted to most secondary care services if required e.g. orthopaedics, pain clinic, rheumatology and neurosurgery.
- Who is our service for?
Our service is available for people who meet the following criteria:
- You have had your symptoms for more than 6 weeks
- You are at least 16 years old
- You are a patient registered with a GP in Southport, Formby or West Lancashire
- You do not have any specific appointment needs (e.g. sign language/physical accessibility/translator requirements or home visits due to being house-bound)
- You have not had recent changes in your bladder or bowel habits
- You have not had a problem with controlling your bladder or bowels
- You have not had a loss of sensation in or around your genitals, bottom or between your legs
- Consultants
- How do I access the service
You can be referred by your GP, but it's quicker to get the help you need using our self-referral assessment. This service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
You may also be referred to physiotherapy from your orthopaedic or rheumatology consultant.
- What will happen at your first appointment?
We are offering appointments face-to-face, by telephone and by video call. Your appointment will last about 30 minutes.
An appointment will include a detailed assessment of your condition including medical history, medication and a physical examination. You will need to bring suitable clothing to change into or wear loose clothing so we can examine you.
For a video or telephone assessment, please be available at the appointment time allocated. For video calls ensure you have privacy as we will ask to look at the body part that we are assessing.
If you have any specific needs please contact us prior to your appointment.
Following your appointment a diagnosis will usually be discussed along with options for treatment. We use a shared decision making approach to enable you to make informed choices about your condition and management.
- What else do we offer?
- Personal exercise plan
- Group exercise classes
- Self-management advice
- Pelvic floor clinic
- Hands on treatment
- Provision of walking aids/splints/orthotics
- Access to radiological investigations (x-ray, ultrasound scans and MRI)
- Access to blood tests
- Access to neurophysiology investigations (nerve conduction studies and EMG)
- Soft tissue and joint injections
- Ultrasound guided injections
- Useful links for managing musculoskeletal problems
- Management of common musculoskeletal conditions here
- Our physiotherapists show you how to help manage common musculoskeletal conditions in a series of videos here
- How to manage pregnancy-related pelvic girdle pain
- Where to find us and getting in touch
Service leads: Mrs Laura Atherton Consultant Physiotherapist; Dr Steve Whatmough MSK doctor; Dr Neil Fisher MSK doctor; Dr Nigel Jones
Southport hospital: Joint Health Service, Ground Floor, signposted from all entrances. Telephone 01704 704962.
Ormskirk hospital: Joint Health Service, Level 2, signposted from all entrances. Telephone 01704 704962.
01695 656268 | soh-tr.jointhealth@merseywestlancs.nhs.uk
Pelvic health (incontinence)
Supervised pelvic floor muscle training is recommended by NICE as the first line of treatment for urinary incontinence and prolapse in women.
It is effective in reducing urinary incontinence in men who have had treatment for prostate cancer or BPH (non-cancer enlarged prostate) and some bowel problems can be helped by pelvic health physiotherapy.
Physiotherapy treatment is available for people with sexual problems of a physical nature.
We have a dedicated physiotherapy pelvic health service at Southport and Ormskirk hospitals.
Our staff are highly trained and have received national recognition for the level of knowledge and care provided at the Trust. Consultations are undertaken within a private room and all information is treated with the utmost of confidence. Treatment programmes are agreed on following an extensive assessment process.
We offer pelvic floor muscle rehabilitation programmes including biofeedback monitoring, bladder training, neuromuscular stimulation, and adjunctive treatments where indicated.
- Referrals
The clinics run on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday all day at Southport hospital and Tuesdays and Thursdays in the mornings at Ormskirk hospital.
Some medical conditions will need to be seen at the site of the most appropriate clinician and this may not be your closest hospital
Referrals are received from hospital consultants, or from family doctors via the e-referral process.
- Useful websites
- Pelvic, Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy pogp.csp.org.uk
- Bladder and Bowl Community www.bladderandbowel.org
- Prostate Cancer UK www.prostatecanceruk.org
- Service Leads
Katie Mann Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist
- Contacts
01704 704962
Orthotics and surgical appliances
The Orthotic service provides assessment, prescription and fitting of orthotic devices.
The term “orthoses” refers to a wide range of devices such as orthopaedic footwear, insoles, callipers, splints, fabric supports and collars, which are applied externally to a part of the body to achieve one or more of the following:
- Correction or prevention of a physical deformity
- Stabilisation of a joint or joints
- Reduction of pain
- Improvement in mobility or function
- Reduction in the risk of injury
- Service Leads
Eddie Gordon Orthotist
- Contacts
karenfenna@nhs.net; janet.wormald@nhs.net
Ormskirk 01695 656706; Southport 01704 704119
Page last updated on 12th March 2024