In this section...

  1. Acute Physiotherapy
  2. Cheshire and Merseyside Rehabilitation Network (CMRN)
  3. Chiari malformation and syringomyella
  4. Cognitive neurology
  5. Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS)
  6. Dietetic Services
  7. Electroencephalogram (EEG)
  8. Endoscopic (keyhole) spinal surgery
  9. Epilepsy
  10. Epilepsy specialist nurse service
  11. Epilepsy surgery
  12. Essential tremor - Ultrasound thalamotomy
  13. Evoked potentials (EP)
  14. Facial pain
  15. Fluroscopy
  16. Functional Neurological Disorders Service (FNDS)
  17. Headache service
  18. Hydrocephalus, CSF disorders and spina bifida
  19. Infection prevention and control
  20. Integrated Neurology Nurse Service
  21. Interventional Radiology
  22. Major Trauma service
  23. Motor neurone disease
  24. Multiple sclerosis
  25. Multiple sclerosis (MS) nurse service
  26. Nerve conduction studies (NCS) and Electromyography (EMG)
  27. Neuroanaesthesia and Critical Care
  28. Neurogenetic disorders
  29. Neurological long-term conditions OT service
  30. Neurological Long Term Conditions Physiotherapy Team (LTC)
  31. Neurology
  32. Neuromodulation for Pain and Pelvic Floor Instability
  33. Neuromuscular disorders
  34. Neuromyelitis optica
  35. Neuro-Oncology Department
  36. Neuropathic pain (nerve pain)
  37. Neurophysiology Department
  38. Neuropsychiatry
  39. Neuropsychology Department
  40. Neuropsychology inpatient service
  41. Neuroradiology
  42. Neuroscience Laboratories
  43. Neurosurgery
  44. Neurovascular surgery and intervention
  45. Pain Management Programme
  46. Pain medicine
  47. Palliative care pain
  48. Parkinson's disease Nurse Specialists
  49. Pre-operative Assessment Team
  50. Physiotherapy botulinum toxin service
  51. Rehabilitation
  52. Research
  53. Respiratory Physiotherapy Team
  54. Speech and Language Therapy
  55. Spinal surgery
  56. Surgical management of chronic pain
  57. Surgical, Medical, Acute Response Team (SMART)
  58. Theatres
  59. Therapies Department
  60. Tissue viability
  61. Trauma Therapy Team

Respiratory Physiotherapy Team

 

The Respiratory Physiotherapy Team covers the Intensive Care and the High Dependency units (combined - 20-beds), as well as providing an outreach respiratory service on the acute wards for patients who have ongoing respiratory needs or a tracheostomy (breathing tube). The team ensures all patients are seen for daily respiratory chest treatments and rehabilitation as required.

Physiotherapists work to help remove secretions from a patient’s chest and help ensure the lungs remain clear, reducing the risk of infection whilst a patient is on a ventilator. Whilst a patient is sedated, the Physiotherapy Team will move their arms and legs to assess for changes in joint stiffness and tone and help maintain range of movement.

Once a patient is awake, they are able to start a rehabilitation programme to allow the muscles to become stronger and promote independence once more. Physiotherapists will identify respiratory and physical problems and set regular goals for patients to optimise independence.

Physiotherapists also help patients wean off ventilators and aim to remove tracheostomies once a patient is ready. There is a daily MDT tracheostomy ward round on ITU to explore tracheostomy weaning, optimise secretion management.

Speech and language therapists assess swallow and communication. Therapists identify early on if a patient has ongoing multidisciplinary rehabilitation needs and referral to an appropriate rehabilitation destination, for example the Cheshire and Merseyside Rehabilitation Network.

 

Discharge 

Once a patient is ready for a move to a ward, if they still have ongoing respiratory/secretion clearance needs the respiratory team with continue with their chest and rehabilitation care to help with this transition and continuity of care.

We work closely with outreach nurses (SMART Team) and Speech and Language Therapists to continue daily tracheostomy ward rounds for ongoing tracheostomy weaning and chest clearance on the acute wards and Lipton Ward (hyper-acute rehabilitation). We also provide respiratory care for any patient that requires this across all wards at The Walton Centre.

The respiratory physiotherapy team also attends the weekly ITU MDT meetings to discuss patients with complex ventilator/tracheostomy weaning and rehabilitation needs, Lipton MDT and neurovascular MDT.

We provide a respiratory service weekdays 8am - 8pm, and at weekends/bank holidays 8am - 4pm.

 

Referral information

In critical care there is blanket referral system for respiratory/physiotherapy.

Across all the other wards patients can be referred via the bleep system by the SMART team and doctors. All tracheostomy patients will be seen by the Respiratory Team.

 

Contact information

0151 556 3863

 

Useful links

ICU Steps

Helping you to recover after critical illness

Tracheostomy and intensive care