ipswich: A dedicated team of physiotherapists at Ipswich Hospital have slashed waiting times after a series of blitz days.

The Heath Road trust’s musculoskeletal physiotherapy team has managed to reduce the wait for new patients from four months to just three weeks.

Superintendent physiotherapist Sue Voules said: “These are our new patients, so patients who we are seeing for the first time.

“Shorter waiting lists mean we can get on top of their problem quicker, prevent conditions from turning chronic and help people have less time off work.”

In a bid to slash waiting times, the team held three blitz days last week.

The 13 physiotherapists held extra appointments to see 359 patients over the three-day period to work through the backlog of appointments.

Senior physiotherapist Jennie Norris said: “Now we want to hold a few more blitz days and by the end of the year we will have the waiting list down to two weeks.

“The team has shown great team work over the three days and we are confident that we can keep the waiting times low. Patients can help us too by letting us know if they cannot make an appointment in advance so we can offer it to someone else.”

The team’s first ‘blitz’ was held earlier this year and saw waiting times reduced from 16 to seven weeks.

n Tell us your experiences of Ipswich Hospital. E-mail health reporter Lizzie Parry at lizzie.parry@archant.co.uk or call 01473 324739.