What is physiotherapy?

How can I see a physiotherapist?

We receive referrals from GP’s, Consultants and other health professionals, some of our sites also take self referrals. Once we have received your referral we will prioritise it to assess how quickly we need to see you. We try to see everyone as soon as we can and treat everyone with respect and dignity

If we need to see you quickly, you are very likely to get a phone call from us, offering you an appointment within one to two weeks. If you have had the problem for more than six weeks it is likely that you will be added to our waiting list. You will then be contacted by our Central Booking Department and offered an appointment. If we are unable to contact you by telephone an appointment letter will be sent to you in the post. You may then receive an automated telephone call or text message reminding you to attend your appointment.

If you do not attend your appointment and do not phone within 24 hours with a valid reason for not attending, you will be discharged.

If you cancel more than 2 appointments, without a valid reason, you will be discharged.

Self-referral

To download a copy of this form and fill it out by hand, please click here

Please return the form to us by:

Post:
Physiotherapy Central Booking Department,
Chippenham Community Hospital,
Rowden Hill, Chippenham SN15 2AJ

Email:  whc.mskphysiobookingcentre@nhs.net

By hand: To your local physiotherapy department or to your GP practice who will put in internal post on your behalf

Physiotherapy FAQs

University Student Learning

We are proud to be a teaching NHS trust. We take Student Physiotherapists from the University of the West of England (UWE) in Bristol. These students partake in 5 week clinical placements as part of there degree.

This encourages not only the best possible practice to teach students but encourages practising physiotherapist to stay up to date with current best practices.

For UWE students joining the physiotherapy team please see your ARC PEP regarding reading, uniform, travel, parking etc.

uwe

Our team

All the Physiotherapists are fully qualified and have to be registered with the Health and Care Professions Council. You can check any Physiotherapist is registered on this website by looking in the Physiotherapist category. We have both male and female Physiotherapists; please tell us if you would prefer a gender for your physiotherapist.

Many of our Physiotherapists have done additional training to enable them to offer acupuncture for pain relief. This is available in all sites except Calne.

The Physiotherapy assistants are not qualified but are highly trained, experienced and supervised by qualified Physiotherapists. We frequently have physiotherapy students gaining clinical experience with us from the surrounding universities. You may be asked if it is alright for you to be treated by a student, which you can say no to.

The student is well supervised by our qualified staff, even though this may not be obvious to you. We are also visited by the University staff to make sure that we are supporting the student.

Our Administrators are usually your first contact with the department either over the telephone or when you attend your appointment.

Patient feedback

I was discharged yesterday from your wonderful Out Patient Physiotherapy team at Trowbridge Hospital, after a neck of femur fracture (skiing accident in January 2018). I wanted to let you know what a great team they are. My particular thanks go to Ann Platts who has supported me from walking, with a limp, using crutches to walking normally. She has given me lots of useful practical advice and exercises with realistic timescales. Your receptionist Mary has always been very helpful and friendly (as was Ann) in a professional manner.

Please thank everyone from me and I would highly recommend their service to my family, friends and colleagues.

ESCAPE-Pain classes

ESCAPE-Pain is a rehabilitation programme for people with chronic joint pain of the knees and/or hips.

Watch a short film and find out how our ESCAPE-pain classes transformed the life of one of our patients.