What is available?
Once patients are referred by their General Practitioner to spinal services, they will be seen by Extended Scope Physiotherapy Practitioners in primary care to assess and investigate their condition. It is often possible to give advice at this stage regarding the management of their condition. If the practitioner feels imaging of the spine is required, this will be arranged and further advice given. Most spinal conditions can be managed with conservative measures such as physiotherapy, and the vast majority of patients do not require surgery.
For those patients who continue to have problems despite conservative measures, they will be referred to spinal services in secondary care in their local hospital. It may be agreed that surgery is an option for that patient but sometimes continuing with conservative measures can provide the best option.
All the spinal providers in the Severn Spinal ODN are able to perform the most straightforward spine operations. The management of more complex spinal conditions can only be managed by certain surgeons and this is dependent on training, experience, and the individual hospital peri-operative care available. If a particular surgeon feels that a patient would be best managed in another spinal unit, they will arrange a referral as appropriate.
Southmead Hospital in Bristol and Musgrove Park Hospital in Taunton are the adult hub centres for spinal surgery and provide an on call service for spinal emergencies. Southmead Hospital is also the adult Major Trauma Centre for the region.
Bristol Royal Hospital for Children is the paediatric hub for spinal emergencies in the region and the paediatric Major Trauma Centre for the southwest of England.
