Physiotherapy self-referral

• muscle and joint pain
• sports injuries
• back or neck pain
• sprains and strains

If you prefer, you can still see your GP and be referred to us in the usual way.

If you are under 18, please speak to your GP and they can refer you to us if appropriate.

How to refer yourself to physio

To refer yourself you can download and complete the Physio Self-referral form and email it to one of the following addresses:

• Worthing area: [email protected]
• Southlands area: [email protected]
• Littlehampton area: [email protected] 

Please be aware that email communications with UHSussex Hospitals are not secure if you are contacting us from outside the Trust’s secure IT environment or from a non-NHS address. The Trust cannot be held responsible for the security of these communications outside the Trust network. Please contact us via another method if you have concerns:

> Physiotherapy contact numbers

Alternatively, you can post the form or deliver it by hand to one of the addresses listed on the form.

Outpatient musculoskeletal physiotherapy in the Bognor and Chichester areas is accessed through the Sussex Community NHS Foundation Trust.

You can find out more about this service on the community trust’s website.

What happens once you have contacted us

Once we have your details, we will contact you by telephone and discuss your problem with you.

There is a currently a long wait for routine physiotherapy telephone assessments across all 3 sites, if you have not heard from us after 10 weeks please call the department to see where you are on our call back list.

At the end of the telephone consultation, we will decide what type of treatment is best for you. This might be:

• advice on how to manage your problem
• advice and a home exercise programme sent to you by post or email
• advice to see your GP if we think the problem is not suitable for physiotherapy
• Or you may be given an appointment for face-to-face treatment in the physiotherapy department that is most convenient for you.

We hope this service will help people access physiotherapy in a more convenient way, so they can get their treatment started at the right time, and get better more quickly.

Self-referral to musculoskeletal (MSK) physiotherapy

You can self refer for any MSK problems involving bones, muscles, nerves, or joints. For any other problems please visit your GP.

If you complete a self-referral that cannot be treated by us we will contact you to advise where you should be referred.

Self-referral to physiotherapy for pelvic health

The pelvic health physiotherapy team can help with problems that occur during pregnancy or after birth such as:

• pregnancy related Pelvic Girdle Pain (PPGP)
• lower back pain
• separation of tummy muscles (Diastasis Recti)
• hip pain
• rib pain

Problems at any stage in life:

• bladder and/or bowel problems such as leakage of difficulty controlling them
• pelvic organ prolapse
• pelvic pain