SMASAC Working Group Post Polio Syndrome - Scottish Health On ...

Scottish Medicines and Scientific Advisory Committee Working Group
Post Polio Syndrome/Late Effects of Polio
It was also recognised by the group that even where individuals and primary
care practitioners may be aware of PPS/LEOP, there is little knowledge of
how and where to refer, particularly to services such as physiotherapy,
community nursing and occupational therapy. Self-referral is, in most cases,
possible. However this does not seem to be widely known and the group
feels that polio survivors should have a source of information which details
self-referral policy and procedure for the range of community-based
assessment services in their area.
• Information on self-referral policy and process for community nursing,
occupational therapy and physiotherapy services should be collated and
made available via the SPPN website. Practitioners receiving self
referrals should ensure that the polio survivor’s GP receives relevant
information.
For some services, it was agreed that more specific guidance for healthcare
professionals may be useful. It was accepted that the extent and quality of
the evidence base for this guidance would not be sufficient for a Scottish
Intercollegiate Guidelines Network (SIGN) guideline or equivalent, but that
Best Practice Guidelines (BPGs) would be helpful. These would be
particularly useful to physiotherapy, where there has been varying advice on
treatment options, and orthotics, where services have historically been underresourced
and inconsistently delivered. It was also recognised that there may
be significant unmet need for orthotic review in the polio survivor population
and further attempts should be made to quantify this, since the service was
unlikely to be able to meet a sudden increase in demand without adequate
planning and additional resource.
• HIS should be asked to consider the development of BPGs for the
treatment of PPS/LEOP for physiotherapists and orthotic service
providers.
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