Authors (including presenting author) :
Wong WS(1), Yuen HN(2), Cheng L(2), Leung SF(1), Tsim KM(1)
Affiliation :
(1) Physiotherapy Department, Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital, (2) Family Medicine Department, Kowloon Central Cluster
Introduction :
Routine cases in Our Lady of Maryknoll Hospital (OLMH) Physiotherapy (PT) department, with chronic musculoskeletal (MSK) pain being the majority, require long waiting time for the first PT appointment due to growing service demand. Self-management interventions are proven to be effective in reducing pain and improving health-related quality of life. East Kowloon Enhanced Primary Public Service (EKEPPS), unlike OLMH Specialist Out-patient Clinic (SOPC) PT service that provides more intensive and treatment-oriented interventions for more complicated or severe cases, emphasizes self-empowerment for chronic MSK condition with shorter waiting time and better patient contact time in primary care setting. It is hypothesized that allocating designated Routine cases from SOPC PT service to EPPS could address the overload of SOPC service with potential benefits.
Objectives :
To better utilize the existing resource by balancing SOPC PT service and EPPS and providing timely and effective PT intervention.
Methodology :
Patients with MSK conditions onset more than 3 months under Routine queue for OLMH SOPC PT service were interviewed and recruited. PT interventions with self-management approach focusing home modalities for symptoms control and exercises were provided. Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), Numeric Global Rating of Change Scale (NGRCS), reduction in waiting time for the first PT appointment and reduction in OLMH SOPC PT Routine queue waiting time were evaluated.
Result & Outcome :
From December 2022 to December 2023, 51 patients agreed to join the study. 41 patients completed the program in EKEPPS. An average of 3.8 treatment sessions were provided within an average of 14.7 weeks. The average reduction in waiting time for the first PT appointment after the reallocation was 27.7 weeks. Significant improvement with an average reduction of 1.8 in NPRS (p<0.001) and an average improvement of 6.1 in NGRCS were found. The 90th percentile of OLMH SOPC PT Routine queue waiting time was reduced from 50 weeks to 48 weeks within the study period. To conclude, the program could potentially facilitate a better utilization of resources with earlier access to effective PT service and reduction in OLMH SOPC PT service demand.
(Courtesy: KCC Family Medicine & Primary Health Care Department)
