Orthopaedic ICATS

Orthopaedic Integrated Clinical Assessment and Treatment Services (ICATS) are a team of registered health care professionals who will assess your condition at the request of your consultant, GP or other healthcare professional. This service provides specialist assessment and appropriate management of patients with orthopaedic conditions.

Who are we?

We are a trust-wide team comprised of Advanced Practitioner Physiotherapists, Advanced Practitioner Podiatrists and GPs with special interest in Orthopaedics. We are also supported by an administrative team based in the Downshire Hospital. The staff provide services trust-wide and are based within a variety of specialist healthcare areas in both hospital and primary care settings.

 

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• What can you expect?

  A member of the team will look at your referral and invite you to attend for an appointment. They will then decide to do one or more of the following:

  • Provide you with advice to support you in managing your condition
  • Provide advice to your GP/Healthcare Professional on how he/she should treat your condition
  • Arrange treatment for you following the appointment eg physiotherapy, podiatry or injection therapy with specialist therapists
  • Arrange for you to have further tests e.g. X-ray or MRI scan to help make a decision on your management plan
  • Refer you to a consultant if the clinician feels you would require a surgical consultation
  • Refer you to another service eg. pain clinic or rheumatology
• ICATS Physiotherapy & Podiatry treatment

  Our Advanced Practitioner Physiotherapists provide assessment, diagnosis, treatment and management of physical problems linked to the musculoskeletal system (bones, joints and soft tissues such as muscles, tendons and ligaments) and the nervous system (e.g. sciatica).

  Our Advanced Practitioner Podiatrists provide assessment, diagnosis and management of physical problems linked to the foot’s musculoskeletal system. This includes assessment for and provision of orthotic insoles if indicated.

  Our goal is to provide effective rehabilitation for a variety of physical problems caused by illness, accident or ageing. We see human movement as being central to the health and well-being of individuals and we aim to help people of all ages regain the ability and confidence to get back to their normal activities as quickly as possible. We also focus on health promotion and education of our service users as we don’t just treat the problem but also the cause/reason why the problem started in the first place.

  Clinic Locations: Ards Community Hospital, Bangor Hospital, Downe Hospital, Lagan Valley Hospital, Lisburn Primary and Community Care Centre and Saintfield Health Centre. Note not all services provided are available at all locations. While we try to offer appointments based on location/convenience, this isn’t always possible.

• Accessing Orthopaedic ICAT Services in the South Eastern Trust

  The Orthopaedic ICAT service is provided throughout the South Eastern Health and Social Care Trust. You can access Orthopaedic ICATS through a referral made by your GP or First Contact Physiotherapist in Primary Care, Consultant or Allied Health Professional (AHP).

  All Orthopaedic ICATS referrals are triaged by the Orthopaedic ICATS team and will be put onto urgent or routine waiting lists.

  You will receive a letter asking you to contact the Central Booking Office (CBO) to book an appointment.

  Referrals requiring urgent assessment should be contacted within 10 working days.

  Routine referrals should be assessed within 13 weeks.

  Initial appointments are offered by central booking office staff while follow up appointments are made by ICATS team as required.

• Online Resources

  The Pain Toolkit:  https://www.paintoolkit.org/

  Pain ED: http://www.pain-ed.com/

  Versus Arthritis: https://www.versusarthritis.org/

  Live well with pain: https://livewellwithpain.co.uk/

  Arthritis Care: https://www.arthritiscare.org.uk/in-your-area/northern-ireland