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Important Changes to our Service during the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)

Due to the current situation the service has redeployed some of our clinical staff to other parts of the health service to support patients affected by the virus. As a result of this and the need to reduce the risk of further transmission of the virus, our service has had to change what we are able to offer and how we able to offer this.

Whilst there are some services that will be operating as normal, the Sussex MSK Partnership central service is not able to operate normally given the reasons above. In line with national guidance for community services, we are currently able to offer the following:

Referrals:

We are accepting all referrals to the service, prioritising those considered by our specialist team to be clinically urgent
Where possible, referrals should be completed using our self-referral form to reduce workload on GPs and because patients often provide excellent and useful history.
Please note that any contact from our service by telephone may come from an unknown number.

Click here to self-refer if you live in Brighton & Hove, Crawley, Horsham and Mid-Sussex

Wherever possible we will give specific times, however it may only be possible to give a rough timeframe of when we will be able to call.

Self-Management:

We believe that self-management plays a major part of every patients interaction with our service and, in many cases, the right advice and guidance can be enough to help patients manage their symptoms. We have researched and developed patient information covering a wide range of conditions which can help you to manage your symptoms at home or can help alleviate some the symptoms while you wait for us to contact you. More information about care at home can be found here.
PLEASE NOTE: If you feel you can self-manage your condition, please explore our website for more information so we can limit our resources to those who really need it at this time. If you still require assessment, you will be able to self-refer yourself from our website at any time. You can self-refer here.

Appointments:

All first appointments are completed over the telephone by a clinician. All our clinicians are able to provide an expert assessment and they will discuss your symptoms with you and appropriate, available management options. They will be able to send you advice, exercises and video guidance depending on what is most appropriate for your particular condition.

Wherever possible we will give specific times for telephone appoitnments, however it may only be possible to a rough timeframe of when we will be able to call.

Video consultations are available for certain patients only at this time
We are not routinely offering any face to face appointments in order to protect both patients and staff from the risk of spreading the virus. In cases where a face to face is absolutely necessary, the service will work with the patient to risk assess whether this is safe to complete. If you are experiencing any COVID19 symptoms you need to let us know. Please see coronavirus (COVID-19) on the NHS website and the Government’s information page for coronavirus (COVID-19) for more information. If you are concerned contact NHS 111 who will advise you what to do next. Booking a face to face appointment will take longer than usual and patients will be provided with information about what to expect at their appointment
We are not currently offering any groups or classes in line with social distancing guidelines.

Diagnostics:

Referrals for diagnostics (eg. X ray and scans) has not returned to normal. The service is able to refer for urgent diagnostics where this is deemed clinically appropriate but is currently not able to refer patients for routine diagnostics.

Referrals to Hospital:

Referrals to hospital for routine surgery have not yet returned to normal as hospitals continue to support patients with COVID19 and life threatening conditions. We are working with our colleagues in hospitals to understand when this will resume but until this time, we are unable to make referrals to hospitals for routine surgery. If surgery has been considered clinically appropriate for you and this is something you would like to pursue or still want to pursue if you have already been seen in our service, we will contact you in due course to complete the referral.

Discharge from the service:

Patients who have been seen in our service within the last 6 months need only to call 0300 3030 8063 if they need further support of the same condition they were referred for. After 6 months has passed, patients should use the self-referral form as their condition may have changed which may affect who they see and their management plan.
Any patient can use the self-referral option at any time to refer themselves to our service without having to see their GP first.

Please note we do not offer domiciliary visits for patients. If you need to be treated at home, please contact your GP for information as to what is available for you.

If you have not received a confirmation email please check your junk email folder.

If you are currently awaiting an appointment you may find our FAQ page helpful.