NHS awards contract for physiotherapy services in North Norfolk

NHS North Norfolk Clinical Commissioning Group has awarded a two-year contract to East Coast Community Healthcare (ECCH) and North Norfolk Primary Care (NNPC) to provide Musculoskeletal services for patients living in North Norfolk and rural Broadland.

The service, which will launch on the 1^st October 2019, will look to align a physiotherapist with every GP practice in the North Norfolk area, with ‘on-call’ support available.

East Coast Community Healthcare is a social enterprise providing NHS and local authority services such as community nursing in Great Yarmouth and Waveney and stop smoking services across Norfolk.

North Norfolk Primary Care is the alliance of GP Practices in the North Norfolk and Broadland area which has been set up to provide primary care services ‘at scale’.

James Leeming, Chief Executive Officer of North Norfolk Primary Care commented: “The opportunity to work with ECCH in delivering this service, as well as our colleagues working across Primary Care, means that people living in North Norfolk can expect high quality physiotherapy and support services, centred around their needs.”

In developing the new service, local patients told the CCG that having services and clinical support available closer to where they live is vital, especially in rural areas like North Norfolk.

ECCH’s Executive Director of Operations, Adele Madin said: “Having a physiotherapist aligned to every GP surgery in the area means we will be able to work alongside practices and adapt our services to suit their needs, ensuring patients get the best possible quality of care we can offer. We have worked closely with North Norfolk Primary Care to understand the needs of GPs and their patients and to develop a service that will make a real difference to the health of local people with MSK conditions, supporting them to find strategies that will help them achieve improvement in their condition and establish and maintain a better quality of life.”

Patients currently receiving physiotherapy treatment will continue to receive their treatment in the same way.

If any current patients have any questions or queries please contact Alice Bellamy, ECCH Lead for Physiotherapy on 07790 366983 or email: alice.bellamy1@nhs.net