A quality pathway from a service that CARES

Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale Paediatric Physiotherapy team: Joanna Simpson, Lindsey Murray, Garry Hodgkinson, Lisa Haywood with their CARES Award

An NHS physiotherapy team in Heywood have scooped an award for improving the quality of care provided to children with Cerebral Palsy.

The paediatric physiotherapy team, part of Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, received one of the Trust’s CARES awards for developing and implementing a new system which helps reduce the need for unnecessary appointments.

The Cerebral Palsy Integrated Pathway identifies joint and muscle problems early to reduce the number of x-rays and appointments with orthopaedics for children with cerebral palsy.

Problems identified earlier using the new pathway includes deterioration in joint range, muscle length or increased risk of hip dislocation. This can lead to a child no longer being able to access equipment for walking or standing and can be painful.

The pathway provides easy to share results both with service users and professionals. If changes are noticed earlier, the child’s physiotherapy programme can be altered and additional equipment supplied which will give them the best support. It also recognises when a child is making good progress.

The service works with children up to the age of 19 who have acute injuries and long term health needs.

Lindsey Murray, paediatric physiotherapist said; “The system measures each child’s joints and we assess their current mobility. If they can walk we also monitor how much assistance they need. If there is deterioration this will be flagged up earlier than before. Monitoring the measurements and walking can help reduce the number of hip dislocations and surgery.

“It produces really clear and easy to see results which can be shared with the parents as well, so they are able to track their child’s progress.”

Emma Edwards, a parent said; “When my little boy first started with the service he could not roll, he could not physically move.

“Whereas now with the help of the service, he can roll, is nearly sitting and is a lot more mobile than what he was. The service is amazing.”