Lincoln Healthcare Partnership are one of the PCNs piloting the new pathway for MSK elective hip and knee pathway. 

Lincolnshire’s health and care organisations are working together to re-design musculoskeletal care, specifically hip and knee joint replacement pathways, to improve care for patients. The vision is to create a single integrated musculoskeletal service working as a multi-disciplinary team in Lincolnshire across primary, community, acute and social care. 

The benefits to the patient will be: 

  • Quicker access to specialist MSK care

  • Reduce unnecessary steps in the pathway

  • Quicker access to consultant input

  • Care provided Closer to Home 

The Lincoln Healthcare Partnership Primary Care Network (PCN) are able to offer appointments with our first contact musculoskeletal team. The aim of this team is to reduce the waiting time for help with musculoskeletal conditions including problems with muscles, bones and joints. Patients at the practices within the PCN requesting appointments for new musculoskeletal problems will be offered an appointment with this service rather than a doctor. The team can perform an initial assessment of the condition and can offer immediate advice in the form of exercises, prescriptions, sick notes as well as organising investigations including blood tests and scans if needed. The team can also organise referrals to be made if a course of treatment is needed.