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With almost twelve months experience of delivering a first contact physiotherapy (FCP) service across three PCNs in South Tyneside, Connect Health can attest to their worth. In fact, the service has been so well received that the PCN are on a mission to double the numbers of physios across their area, going forwards. In this week’s episode we meet South Tyneside Clinical Director, Federation lead and GP Dr Anji Curry and Connect Health’s MSK Clinical Service Manager and Physiotherapy Advanced Practitioner Hal Brace, who talk to Ben about their journey so far; what first contact practitioners can bring to a PCN in terms of easing the workload burden and early intervention, the different models for recruitment, the importance of care navigation in supporting and complementing the FCP service, and why every team should consider inclusion of these vital roles within the context of the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS) funding available.

Introducing Anji (0:22)

All about Hal (0:40)

The South Tyneside PCN area (0:54)

Adopting an innovative approach to the ARRS funding (1:20)

PCN demographic (2:30)

A background to the FCP service and how the service has grown over time (2:44)

Partnering with Connect Health and the recruitment process for the FCPs (4:58)

How does the FCP service work in practice? (6:05)

The FCP spread across the PCN areas (8:15)

What have been the biggest challenges so far? (10:38)

Managing waiting times and clinic schedules (13:12)

Winning over more reluctant colleagues (14:06)

The relationship between the PCNs and Connect Health (15:32)

Why data measures and audits are key (17:10)

Planning for the future (18:01)

Advice and top tips from Hal and from Anji (19:03)

If you would like further information and / or would like to get in touch with the team at Connect Health, please visit their website here