Community posture clinic
We are a multi-disciplinary team providing support for children and young adults under the age of 20 who require a postural management review or assessment for a single piece of postural management equipment.
What does this service provide?
Who we are
Our multi-disciplinary team comprises an occupational therapist, physiotherapist, rehabilitation engineer and clinical engineer, and we work alongside your local therapists.
Multi-disciplinary team: A multi-disciplinary team (MDT) is a group of health and care staff who are members of different organisations and professions (e.g. GPs, social workers, nurses), that work together to make decisions regarding the treatment of individual patients and service users. MDTs are used in both health and care settings.
What we do
We review your current postural needs and any concerns regarding a single piece of equipment.
Providing local access to specialist posture management advice and support, we help you to maximise the therapeutic benefit of postural management equipment and ensure you have the best piece of equipment to suit your individual needs.
If there are very complex needs or a whole range of postural management equipment needs to be determined, you will be referred to the full posture clinic at Chailey Clinical Services.
What is postural management?
Postural management describes everything that has an impact on your postural ability including:
- positioning and mobility equipment
- individual therapy sessions
- active exercise
- orthoses
What will I need to bring to the clinic?
It is important that you bring any equipment you use related to seating, lying, or standing, for example a wheelchair, spinal brace or currently used seating.
Any recent relevant reports would also be useful if you have them. You will also need to have shoes and socks.
The clinic is structured to meet your needs, so you are welcome to take a break at any point. We recommend bringing any food and drink that you may need.
Appointment information
Appointment types
Our clinics are approximately 3 hours (from 9:30am to 12:30pm), held at sites outside of Chailey Heritage Clinical services. Each individual appointment is around 1 hour long.
During your appointment, you will have the opportunity to discuss what you are expecting from the clinic and any ongoing concerns regarding your posture and mobility.
Your equipment will be reviewed, and you’ll be encouraged to describe any problems or difficulties as well as benefits. It’s also important for the team to know where this equipment is used and for how long.
With your consent, we may take photos of you with your current equipment for our medical records only. You will be assessed in different positions and as clothing is not usually removed for this assessment, we’d advise you to wear loose and comfortable clothing (but not too baggy or thick).
At the end of your assessment, we will discuss our findings and recommendations, which may include commercially available or custom-made equipment. If we recommend changes to, or supply of equipment and you agree, the engineers may be able to give you an idea of timescales, and when possible, arrange an appointment for you to return for fitting and supply.
A clinic report will be sent to you, your GP, referrer, and any other relevant healthcare professional approximately four weeks after your assessment. It will provide a record of your assessment and the recommendations that have been made.
If we have agreed to provide the equipment, details will be sent to you regarding any fitting sessions that may be required.
We will review your equipment 6 months after it has been provided, via a postal questionnaire. If you have problems, please contact your local therapist for advice.
Who you’ll see
During your assessment, you will see the following members of our team:
- occupational therapist
- physiotherapist
- rehabilitation engineer
- clinical engineer
- your local therapists
A representative from your local wheelchair service will also be invited to attend your assessment. Your appointment letter will provide more details about how to let us know who is going to attend.
Members of your local team are also invited to attend some or all of the assessment. Your appointment letter will give more details about how to let us know who is going to attend
How can I access this service?
We accept referrals from any health professionals. Our service is available to children and young adults under the age of 20.
We accept referrals from any area but if your GP is located outside of Sussex we will require funding to be obtained before acceptance.
All referrals for seating require an agreement from your local wheelchair service if they are required to provide funding.
If the referrer thinks you need to be seen urgently, this must be stated clearly on a covering letter, stating the reasons why. Examples include:
- pain
- rapid change/deterioration of posture
- tissue trauma
- post operative needs
Where can I access this service?
Let's get social
You can also get involved by engaging with our service's social media accounts by helping with the latest fundraisers and events.
Get the best from your NHS
If you need advice about our services, facilities or staff, or would like to make a comment, please contact Patient Advice and Liaison Services (PALS).
Contact details
You can contact PALS by the following:
Telephone: 01273 242 292Email: sc-tr.pals@nhs.net
Give feedback
Tell us what you think about our services, what we are good at, where we can improve, and what matters to you? All feedback will be shared anonymously wherever possible, but if you have any questions about this, please ask.
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