Physiotherapy (children)
The Children’s Physiotherapy service includes the paediatric orthopaedic physiotherapy practitioner team, the acute team and community team. The teams work within the context of a multidisciplinary team across the different paediatric settings.
Paediatric Acute Team
The acute ward/musculoskeletal team treat patients in the ward areas, paediatric gym, main physiotherapy gyms and hydrotherapy pool. The acute team treats children who are in-patients on the general paediatric wards with respiratory conditions, neurological disorders, and orthopaedic problems, both traumatic and elective. They also carry out developmental assessments.
Children with soft tissue injuries, non-specific pain and post fracture are treated as outpatients. The acute team cover any babies requiring physiotherapy that are born on the post natal wards or admitted to the Neonatal unit.
Community Team
The community paediatric physiotherapists are in geographically based teams as part of the Cheyne Child Development Service multidisciplinary teams covering Hammersmith and Fulham, South Kensington and Chelsea and south Westminster.
Children are seen in a variety of community settings including their homes, in Nursery and schools, in community clinics, as outpatients, in the Hydrotherapy pool at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, the weekly Orthotic clinic. They treat children with Neurodevelopmental delay, neurological impairment, musculoskeletal, neuromuscular, orthopaedic, cardiovascular/respiratory problems.
Paediatric Orthopaedic Physiotherapy Practitioners
The paediatric orthopaedic physiotherapy practitioners are part of the paediatric orthopaedic team. They are responsible for the organisation, management and treatment of an agreed group of orthopaedic patients. Within their caseloads are hip screening, musculoskeletal, Ponseti clinic for clubfoot management, positional foot problems and neuro orthopaedics.
