Allied Health Professionals Suffolk (Physiotherapy)

I was about to pay £90 for a consultation at my gym but I self referred online to NHS. Within 24hrs I had an email back with exercises to follow for 2wks. I did that. Then I got a text offering a face to face appt. I accepted a cancellation and visited The Riverside. Confident the exercises were working, they assessed my progress and gave me some new exercises that I’m now working on. I reckon another week and I’ll be back to normal. Thanks!

It does seem silly that even when the eventual outcome of being referred to hospital for a hip replacement is known the patient and staff have to go through a tick box process and physio before having an xray and then finally a referral to hospital.

I tried to access the service but when I spoke to them I was told that even though I live in Suffolk I couldn't use the service as my GP practice is based in Norfolk.

This service is easy to access and is pretty quick from when I put my referral in. I have been here over a few years with different things. My feeling is there is a bit of a block when you ask for further scans and they seem to be happy with you even when there is little progress. I know things take time, but sometimes you feel you are making no progress and want to have further investigations to try inform them further, but this is not done.

I have been coming for a few appointments, and found the self-referral easy to do. They give good care and talk to me in a way that I understand and know what to expect. These things take time and I feel I am making good progress.

Excellent service by all the professionals here. My GP referred me to MSK too and I have had a MRI scan and that has linked up to this service, so they can see it. I feel things are progressing slowly but well.

Running behind today by at least 20 minutes. Also I had to go upstairs for treatment and this was not great when not particularly mobile and in pain. Consideration is needed for more appropriate rooms as no lift. I was not asked if ok to go upstairs when I booked in, which would have been good as I would gear myself up to use, rather than feeling daunted by it when suddenly called.

Been under them for a while and I have asked for 'imaging' to try and get to the root of the problem. They said that it won't solve anything, but for me I feel it could show up any cause of the issue. They refuse and yet it is the only way to gain this 'imaging' as GP cannot refer me. Overall, it is a good service as they are helping me and are kind, but feel we have not progressed.

Started coming in 2021 for a few months for neck/back issues and things had got much better.
Lately, as issues started again affecting other areas too, I was able to gain an appointment. On my first appointment, I was 15 mins late, due to issues out of my control, and I was very apologetic. They said I could not be seen. Once home I rang in to gain another appointment, only to be told I had been discharged! I was surprised and cross, as I was told I would have to do a referral again from scratch.
I managed to talk to them further and they then agreed to book in another appointment.
They do need to take into account that people are sometimes late, and not on purpose. It just was a drastic response to discharge me, when clearly I needed treatment.

The service told me that I have been referred for an operation, and now on the list. I was happy to know this, and mildly surprised that my GP had not informed me. I hope the ongoing appointments help me keep mobile
There is no way of knowing how long I will be waiting though.