Musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions affect many people and can affect your joints, bones and muscles and sometimes associated tissues such as your nerves. They can range from minor injuries to long-term conditions.

• What are MSK services? :: Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Self-Help

Lots of musculoskeletal problems can initially be managed without seeing a GP. Click the below link for further information on how to self manage a number of different MSK problems:

• Self-manage :: Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Using self-help resources really helps the practice to free up the number of GP appointments available for issues that can only be managed by a GP. 

Self-Referral

If you are over 16 and the above self-help information is not improving your symptoms within 6-8 weeks or if your symptoms are getting worse, then you can self-refer to a physiotherapist (without needing a GP appointment) using the link below:

• Other Hampshire Musculoskeletal Outpatient Physiotherapy Self-Referral Form

• Please consult NHS 111 urgently if you have recently or suddenly developed:

  • Difficulty passing urine or controlling bladder/bowels
  • Numbness or tingling around your back passage or genitals
  • Numbness, pins and needles or weakness in both legs

  Please discuss with your GP before submitting this referral if you:

  • Are feeling generally unwell/fever
  • Have any unexplained weight loss
  • Have a history of cancer
  • Have recently become unsteady on your feet

  Please contact 111 if you have any ill health that you think is of an urgent nature and for which you think you need medical assistance.

• Further information on self referral
  • How to self-refer :: Hampshire and Isle of Wight Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust