Service Description: Physical therapies include physiotherapy and occupational therapy. As detailed earlier, the
community physical therapy teams are part of the cluster teams and these staff also work as part of the multi-disciplinary complex care teams across northern Devon.
The Community Rehabilitation service comprises a broad range of interventions designed to promote rehabilitation and to promote independent living.
In addition, physical therapies are also aligned to support teams in:
- Acute in-patient therapy providing assessment, rehab and discharge planning for patients at NDDH across orthopaedic, medical, surgical and care of the elderly specialities. There is also a contract to provide specialist Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy palliative care services to support the in-patient unit of the North Devon Hospice and to undertake therapy with patients attending the day unit
- Rheumatology – providing assessment, rehab – individual/classes/hydrotherapy, splinting, long term condition management and patient education
- Musculo-skeletal outpatient physiotherapy team working across GP practices, NDDH, fracture clinic, after-care services, hydrotherapy and community hospital settings to assess, treat and conservatively manage a range of acute and chronic neuro-musculoskeletal and medical disorders. This includes the delivery of spinal, lower limb, upper limb and hydrotherapy rehabilitation programmes and education for patients in self management of their condition/problem, increase knowledge and promoting self-management.
- Additional outpatient services provide input to multidisciplinary teams for outpatient neurology for non-stroke patients, cardiac rehab and the obesity service.
- Adult learning disability service – contract for Physiotherapy support to this DPT service for adult patients in their own home.
- Orthopaedic Interface Service which includes spinal, Lower Limb AP, Upper Limb AP, podiatry, clinical psychology, chronic pain team and paediatric ESP. The team provide effective triage assessment of orthopaedic referrals so that the patient can be seen by the most appropriate clinician whether via the Interface Assessment centre or referral to a secondary care provider.
Service Location: Physiotherapists and Occupation Therapists work as part of the cluster team delivering services in community hospitals, care home and the home environment according to the needs of the patient.
