East Sussex MSK Community Partnership (ESMSK) is a partnership between East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust and Horder Healthcare to provide Musculoskeletal care for patients across East Sussex with muscles, bones and joint conditions.

Service overview

Specialties covered by ESMSK are:

• MSK Referral Management including Single Points of Access (one for each Lot), administrative and clinical triage, booking and onward referral​
• MSK non-surgical therapy and rehabilitation (inclusive of gynaecology, urology, ante & post-natal, hand therapy) ​
• Personalised care including shared decision making/care navigators​
• MSK Pain Services​
• MSK Rheumatology Services​ (For East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust hospitals) 
• MSK Orthotics and Podiatry​
• Prescribing and medicines management​
• Community service management and non-clinical support functions e.g. financial, business intelligence, waiting list management and validation, finance, contracts, patient engagement etc.

List of exclusions: ESMSK services do not treat

• Immediate life-threatening conditions – call 999 or refer to A&E
• Suspected cancers/suspicious non-MSK lumps – use 2WW pathway
• Acute trauma/traumatic fractures/emergency, e.g. RTA or falls from a significant height, still in the acute phase -– refer to A&E or fracture clinic
• Symptoms of cauda equina compromise/acute foot drop/cord compression/ Discitis – Consider Emergency pathway/A&E, see GIRFT interactive pathway or spinal pathway
• Charcot arthropathy suspected – x-ray and refer urgently to MDT foot team at acute site
• Patients with red flags: Immunosuppressed (other than steroids), Hx of serious pathology, unexplained weight loss (> 10% body weight in last 3-6/12), severe, unremitting night pain, gait disturbance, rapidly worsening neurological symptoms, Hx of systemic illness – refer via urgent/emergency pathways
• Specialist rheumatology – refer to local rheumatology services for people with autoimmune connective tissue diseases & vasculitis; services for people with inherited disorders of connective tissue; services for people with rare metabolic sclerosing & dysplastic bone diseases; services for people with defined highly
• Specialised services including Ehlers-Danlos syndrome
• Widespread neurology with or without upper motor neurone signs or headaches (except of cervicogenic origin) – refer to neurology
• Neurological and neurosurgical referrals – refer to neurology and neurosurgery services
• At risk podiatry / nail surgery – refer via non-MSK podiatry
• Housebound patients or those requiring intermediate care, neuro outpatient physiotherapy, amputee physiotherapy, community based multi-disciplinary input or falls service– refer to Joint Community Rehabilitation (JCR) via HSCC
• Frailty – refer to local frailty service via HSCC
• Musculoskeletal referrals for under 16s – refer to paediatric physio or orthopaedics, or Children’s Integrated Therapies Service (CITS) for neurodevelopmental issues
• Specialised commissioning: The service does not include those services or treatments commissioned by NHS England under the heading of Specialised Commissioning.

Referrals – We accept:

Referrals from clinicians referring to: Advanced Practitioner, Orthopaedics, local Rheumatology, MSK Adult Physiotherapy, Podiatry, Orthotics or Chronic Pain please refer via the Electronic Referral Service (eRS).

If you require support: 

For referrers based in: Wealden, Lewes and Havens or Eastbourne, Hailsham and Seaford areas email:
esht.esmskcontact@nhs.net

For referrers based in: Hastings and Rother areas
esht.esmskhelp@nhs.net

For clinicians referring to: Pelvic Health, Paediatric Physiotherapy, Post Op/Fracture Adult Physiotherapy, Rheumatology outside of East Sussex (e.g. Maidstone Tunbridge Wells, University Hospitals Sussex etc.) – these are not delivered by ESMSK, but by existing trust services. Please complete the appropriate referral form or use the appropriate eRS pathway.

Patients who are able to self-refer for physiotherapy should be directed to our self-referral page