Is Physiotherapy Provided by Private Health Experts Effective?

If you have suffered an injury that has kept you away from work and being able to carry out normal daily activities, receiving a tailored physiotherapy programme from private health experts can speed up the healing process and would do so safely.

A lot of people throughout the UK do not realise they may be entitled to free physiotherapy aftercare which would help speed up their recovery. Many injuries leave you with some long-term health issues whether it is because the muscles in an affected leg have become weaker due to being in a cast for a long period of time, or your back is weakened due to wearing a brace during the healing process. Physiotherapy is an essential part of your rehabilitation and when a programme is tailored to suit your needs, it could get you back to work and able to carry out normal daily activities that much sooner.

Select a Section

• What are the Benefits of a Tailored Physiotherapy Programme Set Up by Health Experts?
• Physiotherapy Provided by The Health Experts in the UK Gets You Back to Work Sooner, Safely
• Two Case Studies Demonstrating the Benefits of Tailored Physiotherapy Programmes
• Useful links

 

What are the Benefits of a Tailored Physiotherapy Programme Set Up by Health Experts?

Tailored physiotherapy treatments are an effective way of getting you back to work following an accident that left you injured and although the NHS provides physio programmes to patients who need extensive rehabilitation, the private health experts offer programmes that are put together to suit your specific needs. Whether you suffered a serious injury to your leg that needed surgery or you fractured a hand in a road traffic accident, the chances are you would be off work for a considerable amount of time.

 

A report carried out a few years ago, suggested that people who had access to tailored physiotherapy programmes were able to return to work that much sooner avoiding extended absences from their jobs. The Frost-Black report brought to light the cost of ill-health to businesses both in the private and public sector and how physiotherapy provided by private health experts could address the problem.

It is also worth noting that employers in the UK have a legal duty to ensure that their staff’s health in protected in the workplace and this covers anyone who has needed to undergo surgery. If you suffered an injury and you are not happy with an NHS diagnosis and treatment, you could be entitled to receive free private physiotherapy aftercare in your area which could get you back on the road to recovery and work much sooner safely.

Could a Tailored Physio Programme Get Me Back to Work Sooner, Safely?

A tailored physio programme would incorporate specific exercises to suit your particular needs. A private health expert would work hard to get you back to your former self following an accident that left you injured and would do so safely. Studies have shown that your benefit from this type of rehabilitation both physically and mentally.

Research has also established that people who are able to work well, enjoy overall better health and wellbeing. As such, private sector health experts play an essential role in providing rehabilitation services to people who sustain an injury or who suffer from a long-term health issue that could otherwise keep them out of the workplace.

Millions of people throughout the UK do not realise they could qualify for free private physiotherapy aftercare following an accident that left them with either a minor or more serious injury. Receiving a tailored physio programme that incorporates specific physiotherapy exercises to suit your specific needs, could help speed up your recovery whether you suffered a severe broken leg or some other injury that kept you off work for an extended period of time.

A Case Study Demonstrating the Benefits of Tailored Physiotherapy Programmes

The County Council in Staffordshire commissioned a company of physiotherapy health experts in the private sector to reduce the level of absences due to sickness they were experiencing in the workplace. A programme was set in place which entailed a professional physiotherapist getting in touch by phone with the employee who was off work with 24 hours. During the phone call, the employee was provided with “self-management” advice which included doing specific physiotherapy exercises. Following this an appointment was arranged so the physiotherapist could meet the employee face to face.

The result of what is now known as a “rapid physiotherapy programme” having been set in place, was a decrease of 1,000 lost working days a month for Staffordshire County Council which translated to a saving of £100,000.

Useful links

If you would like to read more about the contents of the Frost-Black report, please click on the link below which takes you to the Department for Work and Pensions website:

The Frost-Black Report - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/frost-black-transforming-sickness-support-will-boost-productivity-and-the-economy

If you were involved in a road traffic accident or some other incident that left you with a serious back injury, the following link provides essential reading on how a tailored physiotherapy programme can help you cope with back pain:

 

Exercise advice for people who suffer with back pain = https://www.csp.org.uk/public-patient/rehabilitation-exercises/back-pain

 

 

Medical Negligence and Misdiagnosis Can Educating Patients Prevent It?

Medical negligence is a growing concern for all, patients and physicians. Over the past few years the health service has saw many scandals hit the headlines for all different reasons, but negligence that happens within medicine can be catastrophic for patients and their families. A massive 1.1 billion pounds has been paid out by 20 hospital trusts due to medical neglect in one year alone. Doesn’t it make more sense to plough this money into more physicians for our ever growing population and training so that they are aware of the ever changing innovation that are discovered within medicine so that patients can be treated with a better standard of care?

Hospital trusts have over the past five consecutive years have had to pay out a total of 4.5 billion pounds for medical negligence claims and mistakes in the UK. It comes as no surprise that patients and the general public are losing faith with the health service and even certain hospitals have no belief in themselves as mistake after mistake are hitting news paper headlines almost on a daily basis. The fact that statistics are showing that medical neglect scandals are happening more than 4 times as much than a decade ago proves without doubt that the health service is in crisis. According to the Red Cross the health service is experiencing a Humanitarian crisis. What is causing this massive increase? And how can we prevent such negligence within our health care service?

There is no denying that misdiagnosis is s a major concern, as many as 12,500 patients of the health service died in one year alone as they are not being diagnosed correctly or are receiving a diagnosis that is delayed. Some illnesses are diagnosed so late that they become irreversible resulting in fatalities. A hospital in the south of the country paid out the highest amounts in compensation during a 3 year period for medical misdiagnosis. 13.8 Million was paid out over 3 years by the hospital in regards to 55 different cases for medical blunders concerning misdiagnosis. If you feel that you have suffered a misdiagnosis or medical neglect that has had a direct effect on your health then you may be able to make a claim for medical negligence compensation.

There is a huge burden on the NHS every year to payout massive sums of money in terms of compensation to those who have suffered at the hands of physicians and medical staff who have offered nothing more than a poor standard service. A major concern is that liability is being drawn out, critics have said that if hospitals admit that they are wrong at the earlier stages of medical negligence compensation cases then costs can be largely reduced.

How Common Is Medical Negligence?

The NHS is without a doubt one of the best healthcare systems in the world. It serves the entire population of the United Kingdom and treats thousands of people everyday. It does this in the face of budget cuts and staff shortages. This, in turn, has had a knock-on effect. Staff work longer hours for less pay. Fatigue and stress can develop, which can lead to mistakes.

To illustrate this, in 2019/20 alone, the NHS spent £2.3 billion settling medical negligence claims. Of this figure, maternity claims represent half the value. You can discover more in NHS Resolution’s annual report.

In the same year, a further 11,682 new claims were submitted, an increase of around 1,000 new claims compared to 2018/19. The top three causes of these claims were:

 

1. Emergency medicine - 1,401 claims
2. Orthopaedic surgery - 1,361 claims
3. General surgery - 943 claims

Find out more on NHS Resolution’s statistics page.

It’s clear that medical negligence is a significant challenge facing the health service. With greater investment, the figures above can hopefully be reduced. If, however, you are unfortunately impacted by clinical negligence, there are steps you can take to try and rectify the situation.

For example, if you’re harmed during orthopaedic surgery and it can be shown that the surgeon acted in ways they shouldn’t have, thereby breaching their duty of care, you could be entitled to medical negligence compensation. It’s therefore recommended to seek legal advice on the incident.

What else can be done to reduce Medical Neglect and their ever rising costs?

Seems like a pretty straight forward question, however if it is that easy to answer why are medical negligence incidents rising? It is clear that the health service needs new ways to prevent such negligence from occurring on a regular basis. Statistics are very clearly showing a rise in medical negligence year on year, more and more medical mistakes are happening and action is needed immediately.

It is true that medical negligence stems from the inaccuracy and substandard care provided by the minority of health care workers and physicians, and that is where the health care service need to start when it comes to drastically overhauling the health care service. However if we look beyond what is in front of us wouldn’t it be an idea if more patients and the public was educated on certain aspects of the health service?

Offering Guidance

Making patients and the public aware of what to expect when receiving treatment and medication from the health service could be a way of reducing medical negligence, if patients are aware of the standard of treatment they should be receiving while seeing their GP or attending an hospital appointment they have a greater knowledge to be able to judge for themselves if they are being treated correctly. This in turn can but a stop to any poor treatment they are receiving and neglect may be controlled and acted up on before it’s even started.

Up to date and upcoming new Medical Innovations

Keeping the public up to date with any new medical treatments and medicines could also stem the growth of negligence as patients can make more informed decisions on the type of treatment they can opt for. Helping the doctor by offering your own opinion could mean a patient receives better care and a better sense of involvement.

Medical Misdiagnosis

Misdiagnosis is a major concern for all, much of the medical neglect that takes place within the health service happens due to either medical neglect or medical misdiagnosis. A huge way we could help patients and the public reduce the amount of misdiagnosis is informing them on a wider scale of the symptoms and signs of diseases that are plaguing our society. Many people are ignorant to the onset of some of the major illnesses that cause great harm to the human body, educating people of symptoms could mean that diagnoses could happen earlier. If patients are armed with the ability to spot as many signs as they can if an illness or disease attacks their body then they can better inform the physician of what they are experiencing. Educating people on the possible signs of illness can mean that they can make better informed decisions on their health not leaving their health in the hands of doctors that may neglect to notice or diagnose certain illnesses.

Being a Better Patient

Becoming a more informed patient may not always reduce medical negligence however it offers the patient a lot more control over what happens to their bodies. It was once the concept that ‘Doctor knows best’ but that has longed been phased out with the growing neglect people are experiencing right across the board of the health care system. Teaching people what to look out for in terms of illness and disease could mean that they can event take preventive methods to prevent certain ill-health. NHS doctors, GP’s, nurses see many patients each day, if a patient comes in with a comprehensive list of symptoms then their illness is likely to be diagnosed at an earlier stage allowing them to receive treatment at the earliest possible moment. This does not mean however that doctors do not have to be vigilant and precise when listening to and examining patients but as the numbers continue to grow for medical neglect maybe it’s time the patient had some control over the health service.

Latest Health News

Morecambe Bay Inquiry

In a recent inquiry termed the Morecambe Bay Inquiry, the chair of the committee noted that the Government is looking for short term remedies instead of focusing on long term goals. As the Nursing Times pointed out, almost a year after the Furness general hospital inquiry which found that at least 10 babies and one mother died due to failures in its maternity ward, only 10 out of the 26 recommendations were actually carried out. However, the Government has simply gone on to accept all of the recommendations made in the past by inquiry committees in order to escape the backlash from the public. The result is that the solutions accepted were unrealistic even if ideal. As the Morecambe Bay Inquiry has highlighted, the Government should focus on taking ideas that can be implemented, rather than ones that are forced on by the public.

Humanitarian Crisis

Another recent report, post by the Red Cross on its website pointed out how inadequately staffed the NHS is to handle normal workloads. It was found that Red Cross was actually using Land Rovers to transfer patients all over the country during the last winter. Although the government has responded by saying that the load increases during the winter, that is hardly an excuse the healthcare system of UK should be making. Opposition party leaders have called forth for more budgets to be pushed into the healthcare sector despite the claims of the current administration that it has already injected more than £400 million.

Revolutionary New Microscope documents living nerve synapses

A new microscope that is able to further our boundaries of science has been invented. The researchers at Washington University School located in St Louis have been able to study synapses in much more detail than ever before with the help of a custom-made microscope. The microscope is so sensitive, that it is able to able to analyse live neurons from up close. As they have said, this is a monumental work in understanding the brain and how it works. The whole process can benefit several major brain diseases like Alzheimer’s and depression significantly by studying when and how the synapses fire during the problems.

Avoiding Diabetes and Obesity

Always wanted that toned down body, but do not feel like hitting the gym? You might be in luck as researchers at the St Louis University in Missouri claim to be developing a pill that simulates muscle metabolism. Simply put, it will tell your body that it has worked out even if you have done nothing but sit on the couch. The result is that the genes which get activated during workouts will be activated, in turn burning your pesky fat without you having to workout.

Dogs can sniff out cancer

Human beings have always taken inspiration from nature in order to solve problems. The latest in this line of inspirations seem to come from our favourite 4 legged canine friends. German Shepherds are able to sniff out cancer simply by sniffing bandages 100% of the time, a new study has found. This is expected to revolutionise cancer detection in countries where mammograms are hard to conduct, says, researchers. They went on to say that this was possible only after 6 months of training. The motivation was that dogs with far superior noses than us would be able to pick out cancerous cells with much higher accuracy. The results were astounding, with absolute accuracy recorded by 2 German shepherds, trained with the game playing and reward model.

Latest Health News 2017

Drug ‘reverses’ age in animals

Who does not want to be young forever? A new drug that has done just that has been found. A team of researchers at the Erasmus University Medical Centre in Netherlands has tested a new drug on old mice which has not only helped them restore stamina and fur but partial organ function as well. The approach, says the researchers, work by pulling out cells that have stopped dividing, from the body. While researchers from around the globe have remained sceptical of the same, the news certainly is interesting and cannot be dismissed directly.

Synthetic Blood

Blood scarcity is one of the most important factors plaguing major parts of the world today. However, according to a team of researchers from University of Bristol and NHS, this might soon be eradicated. They claim to have developed, what they hope, is a process to mass produce red blood cells at the laboratory. However, the scale of operation is not viable as the mass produced blood would still be more costly than a conventional donation. The process can be used for rare blood types. The process, as they documented, is to trap stem cells in an early stage, so that they can multiply indefinitely. Once there are enough stem cells, they can simply be triggered to become blood cells. While the biological map for creating the blood cells are already available, the technology to scale it up is not yet available. Expansion of yield is a new phase: say the researchers.

Trump withdraws his American Healthcare Act

US president Donald Trump has withdrawn a Healthcare bill after it failed to gather enough support from the Congress. In fact, repealing the programmed known as the Obamacare was one of his major election pledges, and the failure to do so is being seen as a big blow to the Trump administration.

Parasitic Twin Removed

A major breakthrough in the field of childcare surgery has been achieved at the Advocate Children’s Hospital in Chicago. A highly rare case of a parasitic twin was observed in the case of baby Dominique. The parasitic twin was attached at a very important junction of neck and thoracic spine and posed a major complication during the surgery. The doctors used state of the art imaging technique to map out the whole problem and conducted the surgery to ensure she was not left paralysed. Needless to say, baby Dominique will go live her life happily with her family.

Blood Tests and Diagnosing Cancer

A new blood test, which can diagnose and pinpoint cancer BEFORE it has manifested has been developed. The breakthrough can revolutionise cancer treatment, say, researchers. The test called Cancer Locator has been developed by the University of California and works by searching for blood that circulates from the tumours in the blood of cancer patients. While the technique is still being developed, it has the potential to be a very big help to cancer patients.

Some Cancers are unavoidable

Around two thirds of cancers are simply unavoidable, even if you lead a healthy life, says a new study. According to scientists in the US, cancers are caused by random mistakes in the genes when cells divide. This changes a long standing belief that cancer is influenced by environmental and genetic factors and puts it all down to luck. The research article, published in the journal Science, points out that nearly 66% of all cancers are due to DNA copying errors.

Contraceptive Pills

The simple contraceptive pill does more than just prevent pregnancy. According to a new study, it seems that it also protects women from cancer even 35 years from when they stop taking it. While there is a slight risk in increased breast and ovarian cancer, the study noted that this was temporary and vanished a few years after the pill was stopped.