Paediatric Orthopaedic Community Cluster Clinics

The demand on secondary care services has increased exponentially during the COVID 19 pandemic. Patients now face long waits to access specialist services.

This includes paediatric orthopaedic planned care clinics; which are an essential service that allow for specialist triage and assessment of children’s musculoskeletal (MSK) and orthopaedic conditions. 

Advanced practice physiotherapists are experts in the assessment and management of MSK conditions and their extended assessment and triage skills have been proven to improve patient experience and decrease demand on secondary care services- allowing consultants to see the complex conditions that require surgery or intervention.

The aim of this project is to create physiotherapy led paediatric orthopaedic clinics in GP clusters. Therefore essentially moving a secondary care service into a primary care setting. In addition to providing care closer to home for patients, we will aim to improve the confidence and skills within GP’s with regards to paediatic MSK and orthopaedic knowledge through surveys and targeted teaching sessions. 

The desired outcome of this pilot project will be to reduce waiting times for children referred to orthopaedic secondary care services and improve the knowledge and skills in GP’s of paediatric MSK conditions.