Primary Care Education Hub
Thank you for visiting our Education Hub, which is aimed at GPs and allied healthcare professionals working in primary care.
In partnership with the
Primary Care Education Hub
Our aim is to create a library of educational videos taking you through some of the common MSK and dermatology presentations you may encounter in primary care. We will cover what you can do to manage these conditions in primary care, and also let you know when you would need to refer them on to your local service for further input.
We will aim to record and upload videos in the coming months. If there’s a particular topic you would love to see covered, please email jemma.obrien@circlehealthgroup.co.uk.
The Greenwich MSK Service, part of Circle Integrated Care, is a single point of access for musculoskeletal conditions.
All patients over 18 years old with an MSK condition, who are registered with a Greenwich GP should be referred to the Circle Hub for triage (via e-Referrals).
Referrals will be triaged by specialist MSK Advanced Physiotherapy Practitioner (APP) to the most appropriate treatment modality and patients will be offered a choice of provider, where available. Patients will be monitored and supported across their pathway.
Clinical triage will be performed within 24 hours. If referrals have insufficient information, Circle staff will contact the practice to request further information.
How do I refer patients to the service?
Please complete the Circle MSK GP referral template and attach any appropriate imaging reports and/or relevant clinic letters.
Please send all referrals via eRS.
The Circle MSK Directories of Service is available and is visible only to Greenwich GPs. The following services can be found on NHS e-Referrals and will appear as shown below:
- Rheumatology Triage – MSK – Circle Greenwich – NV03A
- Podiatry Triage – MSK – Circle Greenwich – NV03A
- Physiotherapy Triage – MSK – Circle Greenwich – NV03A
- Pain Management Triage – MSK – Circle Greenwich – NV03A
- Orthopaedic Triage – MSK – Circle Greenwich – NV03A
- Musculoskeletal Triage – MSK – Circle Greenwich – NV03A
Please select one of these options but be aware that you will be booking your patient into a “dummy” slot, therefore please do not print off the e-RS booking letter.
Patients will be triaged to either:
- Physioline. Patients will have the opportunity to speak with a physiotherapist who can assess their condition over the phone and can suggest exercises and other management techniques with reference to leaflets and online video demonstrations. If, after assessment, the problem is more complex, face-to-face physiotherapy will be arranged.
- Physiotherapy. Patients will be referred for face-to-face physiotherapy.
- Community MSK. Patients will be assigned to either an APP or a GP with a Special Interest in MSK medicine, for a detailed assessment and work-up.
- Secondary Care. Our Patient Choice team will offer patients a choice of provider, and our Shared Decision Making team will contact patients with certain conditions such as hip and knee osteoarthritis to discuss treatment options.
What conditions are treated?
Circle triages all patients over 18 years old with an MSK condition. We offer a variety of treatments and many of our patients are referred onto local MSK services. Areas covered under the MSK service:
- Orthopaedics
- Pain management
- Physiotherapy
- Rheumatology
- Podiatry (MSK)
- Podiatric surgery
What happens when patients leave the service:
When a patient has completed their course of treatment, the Greenwich MSK Service will discharge the patient back their GP with a clear discharge plan. The content of the discharge will be structured to allow GPs to identify easily the key steps in a patient’s treatment regime, as well as to understand the interventions completed while under Circle MSK’s care.
Should a patient’s condition require further treatment, and onward referral to another allied service, this will be arranged through the Circle MSK hub, and should not require further input from the patient’s GP.
Rheumatoid arthritis patients:
All referrals should be made to Circle MSK and patients fitting the criteria for the Early Arthritis Clinic will be sent on urgently where required. We do not expect this will result in any additional delays as Circle MSK has a team of staff ready to triage referrals within 24 hours, who will notify the patient choice team to refer on urgently.
A patient did not attend (DNA) a hospital MSK appointment:
If a patient has been discharged from a provider due to non-attendance, Circle will require a new referral for this condition. This is to ascertain if there have been any changes in the condition and to determine if the same pathway is still appropriate.
If a patient wants to go to a specific hospital for a certain condition, how do they exercise choice?
All referrals should be made to Circle MSK and if a patient has expressed interest in a particular hospital at the point of referral, this can be included in the GP referral template.
The patient choice team will call the patient to discuss available options, bearing in mind that not all providers can offer the same range of services. The patient choice team will then arrange onward referral.
Local Consultants hold clinics at our hub in Eltham Community Hospital, which may be a more convenient option for some of our patients.
If we are unable to reach patients on the phone and there is a preference indicated on the GP template, we will refer on to avoid delay to the patient’s pathway.
If a potential cancer is found by Circle clinician during the course of investigation, what is the process for referral under 2 week wait (2WW)
Fortunately, this is a rare scenario. In the event that potential cancer is identified on a scan, or if one of our clinicians has a strong suspicion from their history taking and examination, a Circle clinician will complete the appropriate 2WW referral form and speak to the patient to advise them of the finding and referral – this will most often, necessarily, be over the phone. We will also speak to the duty doctor and the patient’s GP practice to advise them to this, and to ask them to sign the 2WW referral form and arrange for it to be sent from the GP practice – the referral should be sent via eRS and coming from the GP practice allows any future communication regarding that referral to go directly to the GP practice.
In the event that further examination is indicated (e.g a breast examination) prior to completing the 2WW referral, we would usually request the patient’s GP to arrange this, and subsequently to send the 2WW referral on themselves.
If we are unable to reach the patient after several attempts, we will usually send the referral anyway to ensure the 2WW pathway begins without undue delay, and we will inform the patient’s GP.
Will the service support GPs?
Yes. The service is designed to support GPs and create integrated working. Initiatives include:
- A dedicated GP query email. GPs have access to a dedicated email address staffed by a team of senior clinicians who can support and advise on clinical queries. circle.greenwichgpqueries@nhs.net
- Continuous Professional Learning. Circle provides quarterly education and training opportunities on MSK conditions, diagnostic methods and examination techniques.
- Clinical Steering Group. GPs, Consultants, Physiotherapists and other MSK professionals will have the opportunity to meet and review cases and develop pathways to improve patient care.
- MSK Practitioners. Experienced physiotherapists will be offered to provide front-line clinics, free of charge, in GP surgeries. The idea is that they will work side-by-side with GPs to support with the numbers of MSK patients, by assessing and treating, or triaging to further MSK services, at the first point of contact. Please note that this service is in high demand and there is currently a waiting list. However, please contact us if you are interested.