Hospital launches kids' sport injury clinic with Norwich City's Football in the Community

The children’s physiotherapy team from the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital is teaming up with Norwich City FC and Football in the Community to offer a new sports injury clinic for children and teenagers at Carrow Park.

From 6th September, the Jenny Lind Children’s Department Physiotherapy team from the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital will be running a Sports Injury Clinic for children and teenagers who have been referred by their family doctors. The clinic will be based at Carrow Park, next to the Norwich City FC stadium.

The aim of the clinic is enable GPs to access non-hospital based rehabilitation physiotherapy for children and young people who need treatment programmes for acute musculoskeletal/sports injuries.

The sports injury clinic will operate initially as a pilot until 31 March 2011. A review of referrals will be made prior to the completion of the pilot to determine the benefits of the clinic continuing long term. GP’s will be able to refer children as they do now via the Children’s Physiotherapy Department at NNUH.

The facilities to support this new service at Carrow Park include:

• A large clinic room for individual assessment, rehabilitation and exercise.
• A floodlit outdoor 3G artificial pitch for rehabilitation and exercise programmes
• Separate male & female changing areas, including showering facilities.
• Waiting and reception area.

The new children’s clinic will be staffed by one Senior Paediatric Physiotherapist and/or one Paediatric Orthopaedic Clinical Physiotherapy Specialist. At their initial appointment children and young people referred to the clinic will be fully assessed, before being given an appropriate programme of treatment or rehabilitation.

Lead children’s physiotherapist Sue Morgan said: “We’re delighted to be working on this pilot clinic with Football in the Community and we hope that for many children and young people it will offer the re-assurance of a physiotherapy assessment and advice on strategies to self manage their condition, in order to get back to an active life.”

Ian Thornton, FITC Director, said: “We are very pleased to working in partnership with Jenny Lind Children's Department Physiotherapy team from the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital to help provide such a valuable and much needed service to the county's young people. With both the professional staff and facilities available this has huge potential to be developed in the future”