An outstanding first year for the First Contact Physio Service

The First Contact Physiotherapy (FCP) Service in the Western Isles recently celebrated its first anniversary, and patient satisfaction in the service has been consistently high.  

In a recent survey of patients who used the service, all respondents said that the service either met or exceeded their expectations. All patients surveyed were also confident in the knowledge and skills of the FCP, and the vast majority would prefer to see a FCP again if they had another Musculoskeletal (MSK) problem.  

The FCP service was set up in the Western Isles in June 2021, as part of a national drive to help with rising GP workloads. Working on the notion of ‘seeing the right person, at the right time’. It allows people access to specialist MSK advice quickly. This ensures a timely diagnosis, early management and onward referral when necessary.  

The FCP service has been established in all nine GP practices within the Western Isles (Lewis to Barra), either in person or remotely and 2,000 appointments were provided in the first year. There are two FCPs, Alana MacPhee and Eleanor Maule, who manage all practices within the Western Isles, with time split depending on the number of registered patients per practice and clinic space available at the practice.  

There are a number of documented benefits in a FCP service, including faster access to MSK care (usually less than one week), more in-depth appointments (30 minutes, as opposed to 10-15 minutes with GPs), reduced waiting times, high levels of safety and quality of care, reduced referrals to other NHS departments, reduced medication prescribing, less strain on GP practices and cost savings overall. 

Patients can access the service directly by contacting their GP practice: if they are over the age of 16 with a MSK condition they can request a direct appointment with the FCP. Patients would normally wait less than a week for an appointment.  

Local GP, Dr Dave Rigby, said: “It's great to see that after only a year the FCPs have become an essential and integral part of the Primary Care team. Clinician feedback has been universally positive both in terms of having access to a comprehensive MSK assessment for patients within the surgery, reducing patient travel in many instances, and also having the expertise of the FCPs physically in the practice to provide support and guidance to the wider clinical team, they are always so approachable. As may be expected the service is very well utilised and, in many cases, allows earlier access for patients than more traditional routes. If there was one improvement that could be made it would be to clone Alana and Eleanor!”