Pathway
A sore joint, and a straight answer about it.
When something in a joint, bone or muscle is not right, this pathway takes you from the scan to a specialist who explains what it shows and what to do next.
Home / Pathways / Joint, bone and muscle
Most joint and muscle problems do not need surgery. What they need is an accurate picture and someone qualified to explain it. This pathway gives you both: the right scan, a consultant report, and a consultation where the findings are talked through with you, not posted out.
How it works
Four steps. The consultation is part of the pathway, because a scan on its own rarely tells you what to actually do.
- 1
Your scan
An MRI of the joint, bone or muscle in question, at the centre nearest you. No referral needed, you can refer yourself.
- 2
A specialist report
A consultant radiologist reports your images within a short turnaround, so the person you see next is reading an expert opinion, not guessing.
- 3
Your consultation
A consultation is part of this pathway, not an optional extra. You see a specialist who explains what the scan shows and what to do about it, and your results are released to you at that appointment.
- 4
Treatment, where it helps
Where a guided injection, physiotherapy or an onward referral is the right next step, we arrange it, often at the same centre and planned by people who have seen the same images.
What the pathway can lead to
A steroid injection placed under live ultrasound by a consultant radiologist, at all four centres.
On site at Weybridge and Stockport, planned by people who can see the same images.
Where an operation or a specialist opinion is the right answer, we arrange it.
The joint, bone and muscle pathway explained
From first assessment to imaging, treatment and rehabilitation, how the pathway fits together.