Physiotherapy-Led Musculoskeletal Telephone Triage and Advice Service: A Valid Option for Patients Referred From the Emergency Department

Introduction Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions create a significant demand for healthcare services in the United Kingdom. The emergency department is one of the main providers of initial care for patients with MSK disorders or injuries. As attendances increase within the emergency department the demand for MSK physiotherapy services also increases. The MSK physiotherapy department at Queens Hospital, Burton, GBR introduced a telephone triage and advice (TTAD) service for patients referred from the emergency department to try and reduce waiting times and the number of initial appointments not attended. The primary outcome of the study was to investigate the number of patients discharged via the TTAD service. Secondly, the study aimed to assess if the TTAD service eased the pressures of face-to-face appointments as well as analyze the effects on the number of failed attendances and canceled appointments for both initial and follow-up face-to-face appointments. Method Data were collected retrospectively from the electronic medical records system Meditech Version 6 (Medical Information Technology, Inc., MA) from the months of August, September, and October in 2017 (pre-TTAD) and 2018 (post-TTAD). Once the data had been collected, analysis was performed comparing results from 2017 to 2018 using Statistical Product and Service Solutions (SPSS) (IBM SPSS Statistics for Windows, Armonk, NY) analysis software. Results The overall number of referrals from emergency to MSK physiotherapy increased by 11.2% between 2017 and 2018. Following the introduction of the TTAD service, 59.8% of the total referrals were offered a face-to-face initial appointment with 40.2% of patients referred being discharged via the TTAD service in 2018. The percentage of patients that failed to attend the initial appointment in 2018 also fell by 4.9%. Conclusion The introduction of a TTAD service for referrals from the emergency department has been demonstrated to be effective in reducing the number of face-to-face appointments required in the MSK physiotherapy management of these patients. Both initial and follow-up face-to-face appointments were lower in 2018 when compared to 2017, this is despite an 11.2% increase in the number of referrals throughout August, September, and October. It can therefore be concluded that the TTAD service also had a positive impact on the failed attendance rate of initial face-to-face appointments.