Physiotherapy on the NHS - what a joke!

[Globalti]

Been pestering my GP for weeks now to get me some physio for my bakers' cysts. Eventually he caved in and so I had to go back a week later to collect a letter with a secret code then ring a number to make the booking. Okay, says the clerk, we will ring you back in exactly one week to verify your identity and make the appointment. Next week they ring back and announce that "We've done a triage and decided that physiotherapy would be appropriate for you!" WTF? Then she tells me the waiting list is 6 weeks long so I will get another call in a few weeks with an appointment!

This is a joke. I think I'm going to see Personnel about getting seen through BUPA.

What's the idea with all the secrecy?

 

[e-rider]

I think I also waited 6 weeks for NHS physio - the worrying thing is the wait is the best part of the service!!!

Although, I did see a private physio last year and for £100 they kindly made my problem 10 times worse!

 

[Globalti]

I can have 30 minutes with a physio up the road any time for £20 but I don't have much faith in his ability, TBH.

 

[ChrisKH]

Yes, Mrs. KH had to wait six weeks for physio after breaking her ankle but for the first four sessions the guy couldn't manipulate her ankle as he didn't have copies of the x-ray (or access thereto, as they're all digital these days). She is coming to the end of her sessions, still can't walk after seven months a) without a stick and b) without her ankle puffing up like Mr. Puffy of Puffyland after walking 200 yards. Physio thinks there might be something else wrong with it. No sh*t Sherlock.

 

[montage]

NHS is just a joke in general.
Apologies to anybody who works in the NHS

 

[Amanda P]

When I broke my wrist, I saw an excellent NHS physio. He talked a lot more sense (and had probably a lot more experience) than any of the medics who looked at it or treated it.

There's at least one good NHS physio... if he still works there.

 

[Globalti]

My recent experience of the NHS has been outstanding and as I ride with a gastroenterologist I now have some appreciation of how hard specialists are being made to work for the benefit of the public. My pal works a long day and is on duty every fourth weekend when he will see as many as 45 patients in a typical shift.

I am just hoping I will be seen by an NHS physio who is as good a physio as my cycling buddy is a gastroenterologist!

 

[cookiemonster]

I had to wait 4 weeks for NHS Physio treatment when I damaged my left hip and lower back due to Thai Boxing.

In defence of the NHS, the treatment I got was superb and now back training again, albeit not competing anymore.

 

[Tim Bennet.]

There are no 'targets' for waiting times for physios. Therefore there is no 'come back' for Health Authorities if they cut these services in order to funnel money to other areas where performance targets have to be met.

As a result the NHS physio service is in tatters and it's almost impossible for recently qualified physios to get jobs with the NHS despite the colleges only producing the numbers that the NHS agreed it needed.

The private physio market is booming and most middle class fairly affluent types (including most politicians) don't see a problem of getting the service they require as and when necessary at only £35 a session. So no real complaining or letters to the Daily Mail.

 

[ChrisKH]

My recent experience of the NHS has been outstanding and as I ride with a gastroenterologist I now have some appreciation of how hard specialists are being made to work for the benefit of the public. My pal works a long day and is on duty every fourth weekend when he will see as many as 45 patients in a typical shift.

I am just hoping I will be seen by an NHS physio who is as good a physio as my cycling buddy is a gastroenterologist!

My gastroenterologist is also a cyclist and good egg. The physio problem is a funding issue as much as a quality issue in my (wife's) case. It has taken 7 months to get to a position where the physio will refer her back to the consultant as the sessions are too infrequent and off site/remote from the original treatment/consultant which has delayed her post treatment diagnosis of a non-fracture related problem being to blame for her ankle's ability to heal.

 

[automatic_jon]

The National Health is a fantastic service, terribly organised.

 

[benborp]

I was confronted by a nine month wait for physio once. The appointment never materialised, although by that stage I'd gone down a rather convoluted route of diagnosis abroad (where I was offered surgery the following week if I could lay my hands on 10,000 euro), re-presenting myself to GP with report and translation ("storm in a teacup" says GP), second opinion "you're not in bad shape for a thirty year old, these things happen and you have to accept them", private physio in order to gain access to private orthopaedic consultant to issue report back to GP, "oops, sorry!", referral to NHS surgeon "Why did you wait so long before coming to me? We open you up, we take your collar bone, we put it in the bin." Since then I've been dependant on private physio to maintain function in that shoulder. It's a battle that I'm losing and five years on I've just been referred back to my surgeon. Funnily enough the current deterioration in that shoulder probably stems from my digestive problems - the last two years have been a steady routine at the outpatient gastroenterology clinic of referral - three month wait - consultation and request for procedure or tests - three month wait - test or procedure which generates appointment - three month wait - more tests or procedures - three month etc...

Unfortunately, the disciplines that cover my problems are terribly oversubscribed and I live in an area where the NHS is already under enormous pressure - any non-urgent outpatient appointment will be in three months time. The trouble is that I'm aware that in my case as more time goes by the worse I get and the more resources I use.

 

[mangaman]

I can have 30 minutes with a physio up the road any time for £20 but I don't have much faith in his ability, TBH.

I can't quite see your point Globalti?

You can see a private physio any time - but you don't have much faith in their ability

Or wait for an NHS physio.

Do you have more faith in the NHS physio? In which case you'll have to wait behind NHS patients that need physio for debilitating arthritis/ acute strokes / hip fractures etc which I suspect take priority over your problem.

I would suggest - as an NHS employee myself - to go to the best physio for your problem.

This is likely to be private (ie a sports injury specialist physio) - you may need to ask around at your cycling club or wherever.

NHS physio for sports injuries is virtually non-existant in my experience.

You'll have to pay - but that is healthcare - it's like dentistry / optometry.

 

[Globalti]

In my second paragraph I expressed the hope that the NHS physio I eventually see will be a good one. There is a bloke down the road from me who charges me £20 for half an hour but in February I saw him three times for back pain and he gave me no relief at all. I then saw a physio during a business trip to South Africa and she manipulated my back in ways I never thought possible; I walked out free of pain and haven't had a moment of pain since then. Hence I don't rate my local guy very much.

 

[mik]

Where i live ( Hyndburn) the NHS runs a drop in centre for physiotherapy. Basically what happens is you go to your GP with a problem (sciatica in my case.. see previous self pitying posts ) and rather than refer you onto ( for want of a better phrase) the official waiting list for treatment he advises you of the times you can simply go to a medical centre which offers treatment without the need of a formal referal.

I was seen within 30 minutes of arrival and since then have received acupuncture, general physiotherapy treatment with help and advice on home excercises. Have also received an epidural injection ( ah such sweet relief ) and am going for a full MRI scan this morning.

I am also booked in for a series of "back building" workshops which include stationary bike work and treadmill movement as well as general physiotherapy.

Throughout I have been treated with utmost civility and given the impression that my recovery was of importance to whoever was seeing me.

All this has been on the NHS so not waiting in dread of a demand for payment in return for my treatment. So understandibly I think I dont consider the NHS a joke...perhaps you might make enquiries as whether this kind of informal service is offered in or around your area.