Musculoskeletal (MSK) assessments

Due to NHS funding changes and improvements to patient care, from 1 September 2026 the Practice will be replacing our MSK Specialists with additional GP capacity to undertake MSK assessments.

MSK Assessments have always been a core function of a GP, and many patients will have still been seen by their GP as well as the MSK Specialist (Physiotherapists) used by the Practice over the last few years.  Ring fenced funding was originally provided to practices to use MSK Specialists instead as a way of releasing GP capacity at a time when there was a national shortage of GPs. Due to recent NHS funding changes and a review of how of patient care can be further improved – many patients attending with complex conditions that in addition to having their MSK problem assessed also need to see a GP for often other related problems - we decided that this was the appropriate time to now revert back to using GPs for these patient issues; we are increasing our GP capacity for this.  As part of our MSK provision, some patients may be recommended to have a joint injection for pain relief – as now, these will be undertaken by either our GPs or at one of our new “Joint Injection Clinics” with a MSK Specialist (Physiotherapist).

Should you have a suspected MSK issue, we request that you summit an online (eConsult) where it will be triaged by our GPs and the appropriate appointment or advice will be provided.

Visit our appointments page for more details

Published: Aug 21, 2026