IF success - expanding the vestibular physiotherapy ENT model

Physiotherapy assessment and management can greatly assist people with vestibular issues which includes symptoms of dizziness, vertigo, unsteadiness and falls. Vestibular issues can have a large impact a person’s ability to participate in their activities of daily living, quality of life and their ability to be an active member of the community. Quite often patients of the older demographic will be unwilling to leave the house because of the symptoms or the fear associated with it.

Cameron Mead, Senior Physiotherapist at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SCGH), applied for Round One of the NMHS Innovative Future (IF) Program as he had the idea to utilise his skills and experience to expand the vestibular physiotherapy/Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) model at SCGH to enhance patient access to this service, provide earlier intervention and address the problem of the significantly large ENT outpatient waitlists.

Cameron has worked closely with the SCGH ENT team to create and pilot an Advanced Physiotherapy Vestibular service that appropriately targets ENT referrals which are triaged to the Physiotherapy Vestibular clinic, where patients are assessed (often using the specialised goggles seen in the photo) to establish whether they can be solely managed by physiotherapy or need to continue to be followed up by an ENT doctor. The aim of the pilot project is to shorten the outpatient waiting list for certain ENT specialties and get patients commencing their rehabilitation sooner.

So far, the pilot has been running for six weeks and the feedback from the patients seen has been positive with the majority not needing to see an ENT doctor after their physiotherapy appointment.

We look forward to following this IF project and seeing the outcomes delivered at the end of the 16-week pilot. Keep up the great work Cameron!