Therapy Services
The role of the Therapy Services department is to provide high quality, effective, integrated physiotherapy, occupational therapy and orthotic interventions to facilitate health gain and maximise functional ability for both in and out patients at King’s Mill Hospital, Newark Hospital and Ashfield and Mansfield Community Hospitals.
Physiotherapy
Physiotherapy is a profession and type of therapy that uses physical agents: exercise, massage, and other treatment modalities. This includes helping patients with physical problems due to injuries, fractures, diseases, ageing and overuse. These problems can be related to pain, reduced or increased joint movement, muscle weakness, poor coordination or reduced balance.
Physiotherapists assess, treat and help people manage problems with daily functions such as movement, posture and activities. We also treat neurological problems, breathing problems, and incontinence.
Physiotherapists will provide advice and education about your specific problem(s), injury or condition. They will also teach you therapeutic exercises and posture correction as required. They may use ‘hands on’ treatment techniques such as mobilisation and/or manipulation of joints and muscles and also heat and cold therapy, ultrasound, injections and acupuncture if required.
Assessment, treatments and exercises take place in an individual treatment area or cubicle. Group exercise or individual rehabilitation programmes take place in the gymnasium or our state of the art hydrotherapy pool (King’s Mill Hospital).
Occupational Therapy
Occupational Therapy is a profession that involves the patient and determining their meaningful activities of daily life, especially to enable or encourage participation in such activities, in spite of impairments or limitations in physical or mental functions.
Occupational Therapists (OTs) aim to enable and empower people to maximise their potential to engage in meaningful and purposeful activities. We will help you to be as independent as possible in essential activities of everyday living and facilitate a safe discharge from hospital back to the community. This may require us to liase with other agencies on your behalf to provide essential equipment and adaptations for your home. Sometimes we will undertake a home assessment visit with you to your home.
If you attend as an out-patient, OTs may arrange a treatment programme to improve or help you to manage your condition by offering advice. We can also provide splints and pressure garments following an assessment.
Orthotics
Orthotics is a profession and the science that deals with the use of specialised mechanical devices to support or supplement weakened or abnormal joints or limbs.
The Orthotists’ role is to assess and provide an external orthosis or device to an individual to:
- Improve mobility
- Relieve pain
- Slow the rate of a disease or condition
- Improve quality of life.
The Orthotic service provides both an in and out patient service across King’s Mill and Newark hospitals. In addition we provide outreach clinics to Mansfield Community Hospital and Portland Training College. We provide an ‘in house’ service and directly employ our own HPC registered Orthotists and workshop technicians.
Some orthoses are ready made or ‘off the shelf', but many are specifically made to the individual patients’ needs and requirements. These then have to be ‘made to order’.
We have a modern and ‘state of the art’ workshop at King’s Mill Hospital, and employ skilled technicians to make up many of the orthoses on-site. This is a unique position for an NHS Trust and makes the service we provide smoother with a faster ‘turn around’ for items made and tailored for patients.
Wheelchair Service
From 1st September 2018, Mansfield and Ashfield CCG and Newark and Sherwood CCG are changing the wheelchair service provider for our area. Wheelchair assessment, supply, delivery and repair will now be provided by Ross Care in association with their partner, Blatchford. The service will remain focussed around Mansfield Community Hospital and you may already be familiar with some of the Ross Care team as they have been part of local delivery since 2011.
There will be very little change for patients, but we realise that you may have some questions about what this new provider means for you, your family and carers.
A list of Frequently Asked Questions is available to download here.
The Clinical Commissoning Group Patient Experience Team can be contacted directly to answer questions through calling free phone number: 0800 028 3693 (select Option 1).
Patient information leaflets
- Aquatic therapy (hydrotherapy)
- COVID-19 rehabilitation guide
- MSK Together
- Sherwood Rehabilitation Team - Mansfield Community Hospital
- Parkinson's disease - chair-based exercises
- Parkinson's disease - bed-based exercises
- Fractures (broken bones)
- Heat versus ice therapy
- Hand therapy: Thumb exercises
- Hand therapy: Finger exercises
- Hand therapy: Wrist exercises
- Hand therapy: Exercises following extensor tendon repair
- Hand therapy: Scar management
- Hand therapy: Swelling management - pressure therapy
- Hand therapy: Swelling management
- Hand therapy: Dupuytren's Contracture
- Hand therapy: De Quervains Tenosynovitis
- Hand therapy: Desensitisation
- Hand therapy: Biceps tendon reinsertion
- Hand therapy: Therapeutic putty hand exercises
- Hand Therapy: Mallet injuries
- Hand therapy: Mallet splint weaning advice
- Hand therapy: Care of your device
- Small arc motion for central slip repair
- How to manage a wrist fracture while in cast
- Trapeziectomy - post-operative hand therapy
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Rheumatology Occupational Therapy: Hand exercises
- Rheumatology Occupational Therapy: Therapeutic putty hand exercises
- Joint flares - the importance of self-care
- Total knee replacement
- Arthroscopic knee surgery
- Anterior knee pain - causes and treatments
- Your Cryo-cuff
- Patellofemoral pain syndrome
- Advice following surgery for wrist fractures
- Exercises and advice following head and neck surgery
- Therapy following a neck of femur fracture
- Continuous Passive Motion (CPM)
- Physiotherapy advice following your third or fourth degree perineal tear
- Physiotherapy advice following your vaginal birth
- Volar plate injuries
- Assisting hand and arm recovery (after a stroke)
- How to use your splint (after a stroke)
- Polysling to support the arm (after a stroke)
- Frozen shoulder
- Tennis elbow
- Amputee Wheelchair Group
- Breathing pattern disorders
- Using elbow crutches
- How to fit a poly sling
- How to fit a shoulder brace
- Knee range of motion exercises
- Shoulder range of movement exercises
- Ankle range of movement exercises
- Hip exercises
- Hip precautions
- Ankle sprains and strains
- Medial collateral ligament (MCL) sprain
- Clavicle fracture
- Muscle strains
- Radial head fractures
- Ankle fractures
- Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) reconstruction
- Patella (kneecap) dislocation
- Knee manipulation under anaesthetic
- Range of motion (ROM) knee brace
- Richard splint
- Foot and ankle surgery
- Aircast boot
- Humeral braces
- Range of motion (ROM) elbow brace
- Achilles tendinopathy
- Achilles tendon rupture
- Rehabilitation following lower limb amputation
- Rehabilitation following lower limb amputation LARGE PRINT VERSION
- Total hip replacement with hip precautions
- Total hip replacement without hip precautions
- Exercises and advice following breast surgery
- Home exercises booklet
- Increased mobility in children and adolescents
- Anterior knee pain in children and adolescents
- Back care advice for children and adolescents
- Soft tissue injury - early management
- Equaliser boot
- Osgood Schlatter's Disease
- Breath stacking and lung volume recruitment
- Flexion strap
- Physiotherapy following your abdominal operation
- Wearing your splint
- Knee soft tissue surgery - advice and education
- Botulinum toxin (Botox)
- Botox treatment - active exercises
- Botox treatment - passive stretches