For the Tendring area of NHS North East Essex

This service is for the Tendring area only and does not include the Colchester area service users.  The Colchester area has another service that offers contact to Physiotherapy.

Physio Direct is a triage service (the sorting out and classification of patients to determine priority of need and proper place of treatment) for patients to be able to access the physiotherapy service for advice which may lead to an appointment.  It is not an appointment service.

Thus, more timely advice is able to be offered in order for the patient to receive support and recommended management (including exercise therapy and postural advice) in order for the patient to take ownership of their own condition and recovery.  If a patient is suffering an acute condition, an urgent face-to-face treatment will be offered.

Waiting times for physiotherapy treatment are between 3-7 weeks and have remained constant since full implementation of the Physio Direct service came into being in September 2004.

This is not an emergency service.  If urgent treatment is required or assistance needed, your GP or other emergency services must be contacted.

How to use the service

Your GP or GP practice will provide you with a telephone number.  In some cases, patients will already be aware of the number and will contact the service directly without GP recommendation. 

Once you ring the telephone number, you will be asked to leave a message on the days that the telephone answerphone is receiving calls.  Please note this machine is not switched on all the time as this would affect the quallity of the service.  (All calls were returned when the machine was left on originally but the high number of call backs severely affected the service as a whole.)

You will be asked to leave a message including your name and contact number.  Your call will be returned by a senior physiotherapist.  In some cases, your call will be directly answered by a physiotherapist without the need for you to leave a message.  We aim to return your call within three working days but in most cases, the call will be returned sooner.

During each morning session, two senior physiotherapists are available to answer telephone enquiries.

If you are hard of hearing or have any other condition that may affect you benefitting from verbal advice, we would request your GP to send a referral to the physiotherapy department in the normal way. 

When you can contact Physio Direct

The Physio Direct telephone triage service can receive patient calls on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings between 9.00 am - midday weekdays (excluding bank holidays).  Calls will be returned to patients accessing the service every weekday morning (excluding bank holidays) from 8.30 am - midday.  Our contact number is 01255 201575.

What happens next?

The physiotherapist will complete a telephone triage by asking you relevant questions.  This will help to establish a diagnosis in many cases.

Personal advice and information is given and an information pack containing the advice, any exercises and recommended management will be sent to you by post.  The advice will include an agreed time period for improvement.  You will be advised to ring back if your condition does not improve.  If you are finding the advice is not helpful, you can ring back before the agreed time period comes to an end.

Following all Physio Direct contact, your GP will be sent a letter informing them that you have accessed the service and the reason.

What if I need an appointment?

If it's felt that your condition requires an appointment, Physio Direct will arrange for an appointment date and time to be sent to you.

Things you need to know

It's vital that the person requiring the advice rings Physio Direct themself as the instruction given will be personal to their individual needs.  Asking someone else to ring for you may lead to incorrect information being given and confidentiality issues may be breached.  Therefore, Physio Direct does not give information to third parties.

About the physiotherapists

All the physiotherapists working within the Physio Direct service are senior chartered physiotherapists and are registered with the Health Professions Council.  All staff receive additional training before working for Physio Direct.

Notes for GPs

• Some GPs prefer not to access physiotherapy services via Physio Direct and routinely send written or faxed referrals on behalf of their patients.  These patients may have to wait before they receive assessment for beneficial and practical advice.
• We prefer paper (including fax) referrals for neuro rehabilitation, falls prevention and domiciliary physiotherapy referrals.
• It's vital for the success of this service that GPs do not inform patients to ring Physio Direct for a physiotherapy appointment to be arranged or that they will speak directly to a physiotherapist on every occasion.
• Please give your patients written advice in the form of the Physio Direct service handout with information for the service user.