We are Open! - Your Pathway to a Physio Appointment
SAFETY FIRST
All the team here at Sussex Physio Pilates are excited to be back in the practice and ready to see you. However, (unsurprisingly), due to COVID-19 there are some changes to booking and attending an appointment.
Safety is our top priority - Yours, ours, loved ones and our wider community.
Following guidance from our professional bodies (CSP and Physio First) we’ve worked hard in getting the right policies and protocols in place to make our Physiotherapy practice ‘COVID safe.’ These protocols include COVID screening questionnaires, PPE, diary gaps in between appointments and a lot of additional cleaning for us!
BOOKING AN APPOINTMENT
1) Call or email us as usual.
We will then ask you if you are looking for a virtual (video or phone) appointment or a face-to-face clinic appointment.
2) If you’re looking for a virtual appointment we will book you straight in and send you an appointment confirmation email.
3) If you’re looking for a face-to-face appointment we book your appointment in two parts:
a) A telephone (or video) assessment part of the appointment so your Physiotherapist can understand your issue and check whether a face to face appointment is the right choice for you. (See the ‘virtual or face-to-face’ bit below). We will also use this time to start your appointment, take history notes etc so your time in the practice is not longer than needed. The email confirmation of this appointment contains a link to a COVID symptom screening online form which must be completed before any clinic visit.
b) A face-2-face clinic part of the appointment (which can be changed to virtual if you and your Physio decide). The email confirmation of this appointment contains a link to a ‘consent to treatment’ online form which must be completed before the appointment.
VIRTUAL OR FACE-TO-FACE? - weighing up benefits and risks
As health care professionals we have a duty of care to assess health risks with you. We are confident our procedures (screening, PPE, cleaning, social distancing) are the very best they can be, however, we must accept that the moment we leave the safety of our homes, the risk of contracting COVID-19 increases.
Therefore this is why your initial appointment will start with a phone (or video) call from your Physiotherapist who will ask you questions to assess the needs/benefits to you attending an appointment at the practice and questions to determine if you are at high or moderate risk from COVID-19.
VIRTUAL APPOINTMENTS
We will continue to offer our video appointments for the foreseeable future. It may be that you (or you and your Physio) have decided the risks to you leaving your house for a clinic appointment outweigh the benefits of you attending in person (eg. you may have a serious heart condition and are looking for exercises and a management plan for knee arthritis.)
Or it maybe it’s just easier for you to talk to us from the comfort of your own home.
A LOT can be achieved over a virtual appointment and there are many ways of assessing, guiding self-treatment and giving key advice in the management of issues.
FACE-TO-FACE CLINIC APPOINTMENTS
It’s a Physio appointment, but not as you know it…….
We’re living in a different time (maybe a different planet) at the moment, so our clinic appointments are looking a little different. For a start we will be wearing full PPE, the practice will be a lot quieter with no overlapping of client appointments and the studio has been turned into a treatment room! As per our professional body guidelines, we will keep a 2m distance from you when possible during the appointment and wear a visor during close contact hands-on treatment.
Rest assured, we are still the same under our PPE and our skills haven’t changed (in fact we’ve all been brushing up on our learning!)
Please follow our Facebook page for updates and a forthcoming video ‘Attending an appointment at the practice’.
Virtually or in the clinic, we look forward to seeing you soon!