How long is the initial appointment?
The first appointment is usually 1 hour long.
What happens at the first appointment?
Before any treatment program can be commenced a thorough assessment needs to be completed. Every patients problem is unique to them and treatment is therefore carefully tailored to meet your expectations. This can not be achieved without understanding your story.
Thorough assessment allows us to make a clinical diagnosis and then, with this in mind, to discuss the options available to help you address your main problem/s and reach your goals…. be it a better quality of life or your ability to return to work/ hobbies/sport.
The assessment starts initially with a subjective ‘history’, enabling you to tell us the story of your problem/s. Everyones story is unique and fully understanding it is of key importance in helping you on your journey to recovery. This information helps guide us toward a diagnosis and the management choices you have. Some of the following are typical of the sort of pieces of information we need to understand in order to plan safe and effective management strategies tailored to your goals, further details can then be discussed;
What are your expectations of physiotherapy? - Some people just want the pain to go or a cure whilst others are looking for particular thing like advice or exercise or hands on therapy.
What is your main problem? Is it an ongoing pain or stiffness or a bothersome issue, is it as a result of an injury or has it crept up
How did it start? Many people know the cause but many don't, can you retrace your activities/ inactivity leading up to the problem
Are you aware of what makes your problem worse? Some postures, activities or stressful situations may be provocative
Have you identified anything that helps? Some postures or activities or behaviours may help control symptoms
Are you currently seeing any doctors about other medical problems? Do we need to consider your safety in light of your medical history.
Following from this subjective examination a through physical examination will be undertaken. You will be encouraged to feedback about any changes in your symptoms with any of the tests performed. This helps to guide the physiotherapist towards a clear diagnosis, ensures your safety and limits any possible post assessment soreness. You will be asked to undress the appropriate area so a thorough examination can be made (some patients may feel more comfortable wearing shorts for lower limb problems etc and this is absolutely fine.) The examination typically involves some or all of the following;
Observation of the area and related areas
Tests to look at joint movements and joint integrity.
Neurological examination.
Muscle length and strength tests
Palpation of soft tissues
Tests for neural mobility/ sensitivity
It is important to note that whilst an initial assessment usually takes 1 hour and includes a physical examination, with certain longer-term complex problems a physical examination is often not undertaken at this stage as this is not always in your best interest. In such cases years of experience have taught us that really understanding your full story is key and an extensive exploration of this is far more valuable to you; this allows the exploration of advice and explanations to be fully discussed and is, therefore, better use of your appointment time.
It is also important to note that whilst active treatment is often commenced at the end of your first session this cannot be guaranteed. Sometimes it is in your best interest to understand the problem more fully and to take on board some first line advice which should help in the management of your presenting problems. This is often the case with acute injury where PRICE (Protect, Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation) guidelines are nationally recommended.
Is parking available?
Parking is available at Jersey Farm in the public car park and at Russell Avenue in Drovers Street car park or by pay and display in the surrounding roads.
Disabled access?
Both Jersey Farm and Russell Ave have clinic rooms on the ground floor. Please notify Tamsin Mann Physiotherapy when you book your initial appointment.
Can home visits be arranged?
Yes, but not all insurers will cover the full cost as fees are higher. This will need to be checked and authorised with your insurer.
Do I need a doctor’s referral?
No you don’t if you are self-referring but if you are planning on claiming through an insurer you will need to check with them.
How long are follow-up appointments?
Follow-up appointments are usually 30 minutes.
Do I need to fill out any forms?
There is a registration form that needs completing but this just takes a minute or two.
You may be asked to complete a questionnaire as this can help guide us and can help provide us with data about outcomes of therapy. Any data is kept confidential.
How do I claim from my health insurer?
You will need to contact your insurer to check your eligibility and to get an authorisation code. A few intermediaries don’t provide an authorisation code and this is fine assuming they agree for you to receive physiotherapy.
The authorisation and your membership details then need to be given to us, as these details will enable Tamsin Mann Physiotherapy to claim directly from your insurer.
It you have an excess on your policy your insurer will tell you when this is payable to Tamsin Mann Physiotherapy. With a patient covered by BUPA then please settle any excess directly with Tamsin Mann and not Redbourn physiotherapy.
(The patient always remains responsible for the account in the event an insurer fails to pay)
How do I make payments?
Cheques and "/" or cash can be accepted or by direct bank transfer. A receipt can be provided on request.
Is Tamsin Mann Physiotherapy recognised by BUPA?
Yes but Tamsin Mann Physiotherapy’s preferred provider number is registered under Redbourn Physiotherapy and you will need to tell BUPA this. (Provider number 80008760)
What do I need to bring?
Where relevant it is helpful to bring the following with you
Details of your referring doctor/GP
Any x-ray/scan/ test/results you may have access to.
Details of any medication you are taking/have taken recently
Details of your health insurance * your authorisation code and whether you have an excess on your policy.
What should I wear?
Loose fitting clothes are helpful. We will want to look at the area you have a problem with so shorts are helpful for back/ hips/knees and ankle problems. If you are comfortable in your underwear then this can be ideal for most examination procedures. Your modesty will always be respected.
What types of help/treatment should I expect?
Having established a working clinical diagnosis a management plan can then be discussed and agreed. This will be tailored with you by your needs and expectations in order to address the problems identified in your examination. Management strategies may include any of the following;
Advice about self care and prevention.
Explanations about anatomy, biomechanics, pathology, healing, pain etc
Mobilisation or manipulation of joints or soft tissue
Specific soft tissue massage
Exercise tailored to your needs to lengthen or strengthen muscles etc
Electrotherapy e.g. ultrasound
Taping
Trigger point release
Exercise to improve joint movement
General exercise to boost the circulation and general fitness
Throughout the examination and treatment process we will offer explanations about the benefits and potential side effects of any proposed treatment. Should you feel uncomfortable with any of the proposals you will have plenty of opportunities to decline them at every stage of your care.
You will also be given written information to support the advice and exercise recommended. Should you ever require further or supplementary details please do not hesitate to ask? If you have a smart phone then it can be useful to have a video reminder of you exercise program.
What are your fees?
My fees have remained the same since 2012 but I have reluctantly increased them from April 2023.
Fees vary by insurer so please call for specifics
A self funding assessment (1 hour) is £65 and follow up (30 min) is £45.
A one off assess and advice consultation (1.5hours) is £90
Domicillary fees available on request
Can I access my written records should I need to?
Access to records and Physiotherapy reports for third parties (e.g. solicitors and insurer’s)
You have the right to access your notes at any stage. They are held for 8 years following the dates of your last treatment in a secure place. Standard fee apply for any photocopying.
On occasion’s third party’s request a copy of your records in order for another professional to prepare a report based on our record of your treatment. We do not feel this is in your best interests as in inevitably involves an interpretation of our records. In such cases we prefer to write the report but where this is not possible we will release a copy of your notes along with a disclaimer that an interpretation of our notes may not be a true reflection of our assessment and treatment and therefore may not be in your best interest. Any requests made will necessitate your consent indeed we must have your consent to the information being released before we can comply with the request.
Fee apply for all reports provided. This is based on the hourly rate for treatment.
Your welfare is our priority so please feel free to ask any questions.
Can I be assured of confidentiality?
Please be assured that all information provided by you during your care is classified as confidential. This is both documented and casual conversation. Whilst we generally recommend parents accompany minors during their treatment sessions it must be noted that they have a right to confidentiality in the same way adults do and it must likewise be respected. It is therefore recommended that children and adolescents attend their initial assessment having ‘actively decided’ they wish a parent to accompany them. Tamsin Mann is required to have a regular disclosure and barring service check ( former CRB check).
WHAT IS YOUR PRIVACY POLICY?
PRIVACY POLICY
Tamsin Mann physiotherapy keeps your written records in locked cabinets in their home offices. Our retention policy is to keep these records for a minimum of 8 years in order to comply with the legislation surrounding medical records (in the case of adults and the age of 25 in the case of children).
Your personal data is also kept on our computers when generating letters (we request consent) to other health professions/ or invoices to insurers and to keep a record of outcomes (the only details kept for the purposes of outcomes are your first and last name). Our computers are protected by suitable antiviral software and passwords. This information is never shared with any other third parties unless expressly requested and consented to by you, the patient. (for example patients sometimes want information shared with a solicitor following an accident). Again it is our retention policy is to keep these records for a minimum of 8 years in order to comply with the legislation surrounding medical records (in the case of adults and the age of 25 in the case of children).
Likewise, where you have consented we communicate with you via email. From the 25th May 2018 our policy is to encrypt or password protect any information/letters attached to emails. Every effort is made to ensure the correct email address is used and where any uncertainty exists we will send a blind email to confirm the correct recipient.
Where patients prefer to communicate by text our phones are password/fingerprint protected.
Consent for the above data to be kept in line with above privacy policy; You will be asked to sign a copy of this privacy policy at your initial appt from May 2018 in order to comply with the new GDPR regulations.
If I am not happy about a certain procedure can I decline?
Your Consent is essential before any assessment or treatment procedure.
Your consent is therefore of paramount importance to us. Every endeavour will be made to ensure you are conformable with every stage of your management process but you always retain the right to decline any assessment or treatment procedures if you are not completely happy.
COMPLAINTS PROCEDURE:
In the unlikely event you have any complaint or grievance against Tamsin Mann she would hope to be able to resolve the problem with you directly. She aims to provide an excellent service and always welcomes comments that might improve your and other patients' care. If at any stage you are unhappy she would be more than happy to listen and act accordingly.
If you would prefer to speak to a third party you can contact Kate Montgomery MSCP who will be happy to help to resolve the problem for you.
Or you may, of course, contact the CSP directly on 0207 306 6666 and formally lodge a complaint. We trust, however, that this would never be necessary.