"Unfit for purpose "

My GP referred me to Healthshare following a knee injury. My first appointment was arranged as a phone call at 8am. The phone didn’t ring until 8.40am. I explained my symptoms and was given some exercises to do. An email was sent to confirm the exercises. I started doing them but quickly realised that most of the exercises were unsuitable as they were aggravating a pre existing hip condition. I emailed Healthshare expressing my concerns and was simply told not to do any exercises that caused pain. This reply did not come from the person who I had spoken to before. My follow up appointment was about 5 weeks later, also by phone, by which time I had had a fall and injured the same knee again, more seriously, and was on crutches. The A&E doctor said the new injury would put me back to square one with physio. My hip problem was also causing me severe and constant pain by this stage. In my review phone call I was told to restart the knee exercises when I could. I talked about my hip pain and was told I would need to be seen in clinic for that. My GP had to do a separate referral for my hip pain and I was discharged for the knee pain (still on crutches).

The hip referral took a while to process and I had a telephone appointment in late May. At this stage I had been on high doses of codeine for a month to control the pain. I was talked through some exercises. I tried to explain that my ongoing knee injury and limited movement would make them difficult. I explained that I was unable to work or drive due to the pain, and asked how quickly I might see an improvement with these exercises, I was told 6-12 weeks.

At no stage was I offered a face to face appointment despite having problems that were affecting my ability to work, take care of myself, and affecting my mental health. I still have no idea what qualifications any of the people I spoke to have, and cannot comprehend how anyone thinks they can offer physio by telephone (not video).

The hip exercises resulted in lower back pain and I have had to seek help from a private physio as I just can’t wait for Healthshare to get their act together.

By contrast in one appointment with the private physio, face to face, my gait and balance were assessed, my knee was fully examined to understand where the pain was coming from, I was given some exercises to do which were demonstrated and the physio could correct me if I was doing it wrong. My knee was strapped and I was advised on how to use my crutch properly. I finally have hope of recovery, no thanks to Healthshare Oxfordshire.