ESMSK is the local NHS organisation for East Sussex that manages the care and treatment of patients with bone, joint and muscle conditions (musculoskeletal or MSK for short). Our service also provides care and support for Rheumatology patients and those with chronic pain.

We are a referral management service. Referrals come to us to be directed to their most clinically appropriate destinations.

Many patients who come through our service may to be directed to their local Physiotherapy provider for some initial diagnosis and input. Otherwise patients may be appropriate for one of our other services, like community appointments with an Advanced Practitioner, who specialises in the area of their complaint. They could also be triaged to see a consultant, or a clinician within the Pain Management service. They could also be directed to a pathway like Rheumatology, Podiatry or Surgical Appliances etc.

All patients referrals are assessed by our clinical team to determine the best care pathway for their individual needs and situation.

Our Patient Care Advisors will contact you and offer you a choice of location, date and time.

ESMSK does not provide urgent services. However, we do recognise that some patients referred to us require more timely access to care. This may be to ensure certain clinical conditions do not deteriorate further and cause harm to a patient or to support those patients who’s quality of life is most significantly being affected by their condition. All referrals received by ESMSK are clinically triaged and placed on either routine or urgent waiting lists to recognise these factors. If you believe your symptoms are getting worse, or your MSK condition is causing a more significant impact on your quality of life compared to when you were referred, you are encouraged to Contact us to discuss the urgency of your referral.

MSK is short for “musculoskeletal”. This term covers problems, diseases and injuries relating to muscles, bones and joints.

Advanced Practitioners (APs) are physiotherapists with additional experience and training which enables them to diagnose and treat a wider range of conditions. APs usually specialise in a particular area of the body, for example, spine, shoulder, hips, knees, foot and ankle.

A chaperone is an adult (usually a healthcare professional) who is present during an intimate examination of a patient. They may be clinical or non-clinical. The chaperone is there to protect both the patient and the healthcare practitioner from inappropriate behaviour providing physical and emotional comfort and reassurance during sensitive and
intimate consultations, examinations or treatment.

They may also be asked to assist the healthcare practitioner during the examination.

If you need to request a Chaperone, Get In Touch with the bookings team.

An FCP, or a First Contact Practitioner, is a healthcare professional working in primary care (usually general practice), seeing patients as their ‘first contact’. They may be employed directly by the GP’s or by a service such as Sussex MSK Partnership. Read More.

ESMSK offers an open self-referral pathway for physiotherapy, without the need to see your GP first. Find out more below:

eastsussexmsk.nhs.uk/gethelp

Your records: What you need to know

ESMSK works in partnership with East Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust (ESHT) and The Medical Imaging Partnership (MIP) to provide all patients with diagnostic services. We do not directly book your diagnostics, you will be separately contacted by the appropriate booking team.

If you fail to attend one appointment, we will be in touch to inform you of this occurrence. If persistent non-attendance occurs, we will discharge you from our care until a time where you are able to better engage with our services. We will also inform you and your GP in this event. If you know that you are going to be late or unable to attend an appointment, please let us know by getting in touch at your earliest opportunity.

If you would like to know more see our Terms and Conditions.

We understand that there are times when you cannot or do not need to attend an appointment that has been arranged.

Please Contact Us as soon as possible so that we can re-book you for a more mutually convenient time. Any missed appointment can cost the NHS up to £120 and adds to waiting times. Please afford us as much time as possible if you are unable to attend so that we can continue to utilise all available clinic time effectively.

Waiting times across providers and specialities vary frequently from week to week. Try checking our section for Average Waiting Times 

Where able, we use local providers to ensure that, whoever you need to see, you can be seen close to home by a professional as soon as possible.

We are careful to maintain waiting times to give everyone in East Sussex access to equitable care.

Find out where your closes clinics are.

When we call you our number appears as withheld / private because our Patient Care Advisors call through on a switchboard system.

Calling us – It should be noted that our telephone number is charged at a local rate.