Physiotherapy

We help patients who may have had a stroke or a head injury. We also see patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and Guillan-Barre Syndrome

What to expect

We help you address difficulties with body movement, mobility, and posture and balance. Our team will help you improve your upper limb function, increase fitness and exercise tolerance, reduce pain and discomfort, and help you manage your symptoms.

We do a detailed assessment, and help you identify personal goals through one-to-one physiotherapy and group sessions which take place either on the ward or in the gym.

Treatment can include:

• the use of mobility equipment
• practicing functional tasks
• individually designed exercise prescription
• gait re-education and treadmill training using de-weighting systems
• splinting
• mirror box therapy
• functional electrical stimulation (FES)
• 24 hour postural management
• sensory re-education
• hydrotherapy (exercises carried out in warm water)
• bedside exercises.

Our team works with the community neurorehabilitation service. 

We treat patients who have physical problems as a result of their stroke. These might range from minor difficulties in balance or coordination, to severe loss of activity and function.

What to expect

We’ll assess you, help you set rehabilitation goals and provide a therapy programme based on your needs.

Therapy sessions may take place on the ward or at the therapy gym in the stroke unit.

Sessions may include

• tone management
• seating assessment
• balance exercises
• gait re-education
• facilitated upper limb tasks
• sensory work.

Sometimes we provide respiratory care for patients who develop chest infections, or are at risk of respiratory complications.

We work with other teams and specialists to help you achieve your goals, monitor and support your progress. When we think you’re ready to be discharged, we’ll discuss your ongoing support needs.

After you leave hospital

As soon as you’re medically fit to go home, our early supported discharge (ESD) service will provide a high intensity 6-week therapy programme in your home environment. Our team will help you regain your independence and maximise your recovery.

We’ll assess you in your home to identify any physical changes as a result if your stroke including:

• motor weakness
• sensory loss (changes what the body feels)
• reduced Balance
• altered movement patterns (how body adapted to changes in strength and sensation)
• reduced dexterity and hand function
• altered body awareness

We’ll discuss these changes with you and what impact they have on your day-to-day life. We’ll create a tailored treatment plan which may include supervised and/or individual exercises.

We help patients manage their own breathing and return to their previous level of mobility.

We specialise in the respiratory treatment of the acutely unwell patients. We also treat patients without respiratory needs who require physiotherapy to regain their mobility and independence.

Chest physiotherapy

We help with airway clearance for acute and chronic conditions. This may include:

• breathing exercises
• patient positioning
• hands on techniques by the physiotherapist
• use of devices to enhance airway clearance
• advice for ongoing management
• assistance with weaning patients off the ventilator within Critical Care.

Rehabilitation

This may include:

• Identify your individual rehabilitation goals
• bed exercises and splinting when needed
• early mobility including sitting patients out of bed and standing practice
• mobility progression tailored towards your needs,  for example walking, climbing stairs
• equipment including hoists, rotastands, walking frames and sticks
• advice, exercises, wheelchair practice, and early mobility for patients who have had lower limb amputations.

Discharge planning

We work with you, your family and the ward team to make sure you’re discharged safely and to the right place. Our team will also refer you to appropriate additional services, for example community physiotherapy, the falls prevention service or pulmonary rehabilitation.

Trauma patients (who have had an accident or fall)

Our trauma physiotherapy team treats patients who have fractures, soft tissue injuries, and wounds as a result of an accident or fall. You may have had surgery at Stoke Mandeville Hospital.

We help you improve your mobility and gain independence by:

• providing appropriate walking aids and explaining how to use them
• giving you individual exercise programmes specific to your needs
• helping you regain confidence and the ability to regain the level of independence you had before your injury
• providing suitable support where necessary.

We provide treatment on the ward or in our hospital gym where you can reach your rehabilitation goals  in a quiet and spacious environment.

After we discharge, you may need further rehabilitation in one of our community hospitals. If we feel it’s safe for you to go home, our early supported discharge team can treat you in your home environment.

Orthopaedics patients (who have had planned operations or day surgery)

Our orthopaedics physiotherapy team treat patients at Wycombe Hospital who have had bone and joint surgery including:

• hip and knee replacements
• shoulder operations including replacements and rotator cuff repairs
• foot and ankle operations
• spinal surgery.

Treatment includes pre-operative classes for hip and knee replacement patients on what to expect from surgery and how to improve your recovery. We also provide regular physiotherapy on the ward to improve your mobility, and equipment to increase your independence ready for discharge.

After we discharge you, we’ll offer you a follow up appointment if you need it. We also provide an outreach service for hip replacement patients who may need treatment at home.

What happens when you leave hospital

Our early supported discharge team helps with rehabilitation at home. They provide a seamless transition for patients who are medically stable but have ongoing rehabilitation needs.

The team can also treat patients in residential and nursing homes.

They’ll provide you with any equipment you may need to help you regain your independence and quality of life. You’ll also get advice and support for yourself and your family about how to maximise your recovery.

We provide rehabilitation at all stages following a burns injury. We assess patients to check movement, pain and function.

Treatments may include:

• respiratory physiotherapy treatments
• positioning for greater comfort
• range of movement exercises to maintain joint movement and strength
• independent exercise programme
• scar management
• splinting
• functional retraining and adaptations

We also treat patients who have had planned and emergency plastic surgery for conditions including

• skin grafts or flaps following trauma
• surgery for the treatment of cancers
• breast reconstruction
• hand surgery including fractures and tendon repairs

Following a detailed assessment, treatments offered may include:

• post-surgery respiratory treatments
• hand therapy
• advice on returning to work and hobbies
• discharge planning.

Our team will help you to improve mobility and function, and maintain joint range of movement and strength.

If you need follow up physiotherapy, we’ll offer you an outpatient physiotherapy appointment. 

We treat short and long-term conditions that impact on your child’s physical development, activity and their ability to participate in play, learning and socialising. We work with you and your child to help them to get the most from their lives and fully develop their potential, from birth to the time they transition to adult services.

Find out more about our children and young people’s physiotherapy service

Rehabilitation will help to maximise neurological recovery, functional abilities and psychological adjustment, so you can return to the community as independent and productively as possible. 

We help you to reach your full potential. You will actively participate in this process and we’ll acknowledge your achievements and set your next stage of goals at our 3-weekly goal planning meetings. 

Our ultimate outcome is for you to be safely discharged from the centre and reintegrated back into your family and community in a way that meets your own wishes and needs. 

Our pre discharge rehabilitation ward (St Joseph) will help you to regain your independence with the support and security provided by our experienced nursing staff. We’ll transfer you to this ward before you leave hospital at a time based on your needs. 

We also treat children with spinal cord injuries on St Francis Ward in conjunction with the paediatric team. 

Rehabilitation facilities include ward therapy rooms and access to the main spinal unit gym, a hydrotherapy pool, and computer training facilities.