This area is designed for use by health professionals. Information here may be difficult to interpret and may appear misleading to non-medical readers.
Our service has two functions:
1. Diagnosis and treatment
The Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland specialist musculoskeletal service provides a locally based, easily accessible diagnostic and treatment service in relaxed, comfortable, private and confidential settings around Middlesbrough and East Cleveland.
We provide advanced and timely management of peripheral musculoskeletal conditions. The team provides multidisciplinary assessment, diagnosis and treatment of peripheral joint and soft tissue conditions, managing patients with complex multiple pathology using modalities including diagnostic imaging and pathological investigations, nerve conduction studies, injection therapy, review of medication, biomechanical assessment, rehabilitation plans and provision of orthotics.
We provide individual management plans tailored to meet individual patient needs, giving advice on activity modification, exercise and activity programs with ongoing future coping and management strategies eg moderate OA not at the stage requiring surgical intervention.
Our team will refer patients on to appropriate services for further care if necessary: We work with secondary care services such orthopaedics, rheumatology, orthotics, vascular services, pain service and general surgery (eg posterior abdominal wall disruption in groin strain injuries).
We also work with primary care services such as physiotherapy, podiatry and occupational therapy.
It is always very helpful if x-rays where appropriate are organised before referral please
2. Clinical assessment service for Choose and Book orthopaedic services
The team acts as clinical assessment service for all local orthopaedic referrals. We help with the complex choice of appropriate secondary care clinics for each referral.
Clinical information in each referral letter is analysed, imaging is viewed on screen interpreting the severity and stage of disease, general medical history and BMI are taken into account when considering the multiplicity of clinic types, large number of providers both private and NHS, and all their referral and exclusion criteria.
Rejections from providers are dealt with by our team.
We would appreciate as much relevant medical history and clinical information as possible in referral letters to assist with this process.
Non-surgical conditions are triaged to the specialist musculoskeletal service in accordance with triage protocols made in agreement with the secondary care orthopaedic team.
This enables our orthopaedic colleagues to see only appropriate patients, so managing their waiting lists and conversion rates to support the 18 week wait target. For example we can help with interpretation of meniscal lesion images of the knee, as not all types require surgical intervention.