It’s 2 years on 19th December since we opened the doors to our new clinic in Chandlers Ford. It’s a common theme of conversations and you hear many people saying it about life, but seriously; “Where has the time gone?!“

In the 2 years since we moved clinic locations, we’ve been able to develop and grow in what we offer local people, expanding to help more people in more ways. As any small business knows, it’s crucial to keep up to date, always strive to learn and develop, never become complacent and offer people the best service possible. Our whole team work incredibly hard not only with you, our patients coming for help, but behind the scenes too. 

So, on our 2 year anniversary, we thought we’d take a little look back at the last year and what we’ve been part of. 

We started 2018 by asking everyone who used our services for an entire week for their feedback. What you told us was really positive and consistent, and amongst the results friendly, personal, helpful and great at listening were common themes.  It’s so important that we get input from the people who use our services – this helps us develop and improve what we offer. It also makes sure that what we are striving to provide and achieves aligns itself with the reality, which it seems to do (reassuring for us!). 

For 2018, we decided to focus our fundraising efforts towards a single charity. For personal reasons, we chose The Brain Tumour Charity. We have run a number of events and activities and donated event fees to the charity. This is something we plan to do every year now and we are just in the process of voting for our 2019 charity to support. 

The Eastleigh 10k This year, we were delighted to be asked to be the Official Health Partner of the Eastleigh 10k. After an unexpected snow fall in March, the race was finally run in June. Our team worked tirelessly to massage over 150 runners before and after the event. It was such a fantastic experience for all involved and we are delighted to be part of the 2019 event. We have a host of great free events and workshops planned. Take a look here at what’s going on and to book any places. 

Eastleigh Borough Council Business Conference In June, goPhysio were invited to be part of the panel at the Eastleigh Borough Council’s green, healthy and prosperous business conference. At the end of the conference, we were delighted to receive an award for the support we provide and our contribution towards helping support a healthy community. Read more about the conference and our award here. 

Leadership & Development In December, our Clinical Lead & Physiotherapist, Kim, completed The Chartered Society of Physiotherapists Leadership & Development Programme. This was a fantastic achievement and one which Kim, our team and goPhysio are and will continue to benefit greatly from. Our team get together every week for dedicated training and development, alongside supporting and mentoring each other and we have a great culture of shared learning. Ultimately, this supports each of our team in being the best they can be and offering our patients the best possible care.

There’s been a huge increase in awareness of reducing plastic use and waste this year. We decided to do our little bit and in the immense heat of the summer of 2018, we joined an excellent scheme called Refill. Not only does it help reduce the impact of plastic, but it also encourages hydration – a fab initiative! 

Best UK Physical Therapy Blog This year, we were delighted to be recognised as one of the top 10 Physiotherapy blogs to follow in the UK for 2018, in the number 3 spot no less! The Best UK Physical Therapy Blogs are chosen from thousands of UK Physical Therapy blogs on the web using search and social metrics. The blogs are recognised because they are actively working to educate, inspire, and empower their readers with frequent updates and high-quality information, so this is quite an achievement. Read more. 

Another recognition we received was being recognised by 3 Best Rated as being in the top 3 best Physiotherapists in Southampton. 3 Best Rated use a 50-Point Inspection which includes local reviews, history, trading standards, ratings, satisfaction, trust, price and general excellence, so we were delighted to feature in their top 3! 

New Services

Exercise Rehabilitation – Our specialist exercise rehabilitation service has really proved popular this year and it’s grown significantly. Exercise and using ‘load’ (weight and resistance) to help with recovery from injury is an absolutely crucial part of what we do – it’s what all the latest research and evidence supports in the best way to ‘treat’ many conditions. But it’s not easy! People often fear pushing their body, especially if they’ve had an injury. They have no idea what exercise they should be doing and wouldn’t even contemplate using weights as part of their recovery! So, that’s where we come in. With a fully supported, customised exercise programme specifically tailored to your condition, goals and lifestyle. As well as using rehab exercises as part of your individual care, we also offer small group rehab sessions, a really cost effective and valuable way to continue your recovery in a small group setting. It’s brilliant having an on site rehab space, fully kitted out with all we need to help you in the best possible way. 

Young Rehab – We see a lot of growing youngsters and adolescents at goPhysio, often with growth related injuries, aches and pains. Following an accurate diagnosis of the problem, specific exercise programmes are without doubt the most effective way to help most of these young people. With that in mind, we launched our Young Rehab service – based in our Strong Room, this specialist service uses guided, customised and specific exercise programmes to help kids stay active as much as possible, return to sports as quickly as possible and build their physical durability for the long term. It’s just like our rehab service but just for those 16 and under. Read more about Young Rehab here. 

Shockwave Therapy  This year we invested in a Shockwave Therapy machine. Shockwave therapy stimulates the body’s natural self-healing process, helping you recover faster. It is particularly effective when used to treat long standing conditions, conditions that continue to re-occur or conditions that have not been successfully managed through traditional treatment methods. Particular conditions it is known to help include tennis or golfers elbow, plantar fasciitis, achilles tendinopathy, rotator cuff tendon issues and hip pain. This was a huge, but very valuable investment, as it can be such an effective treatment and a realistic alternative to steroid injections and even surgery

Pilates Membership Launched – We have just completed an overhaul of our Pilates class payment system. Having run Pilates classes in Chandlers Ford for over 10 years, and with over 20 classes a week, we’ve learnt a lot! Based on feedback from our customers, we wanted to create an easy, hassle free booking and payment system. So, as of January 2019 we have created a Pilates Membership, where members are now guaranteed a space on their chosen class and have an automatic monthly Direct Debit in place to pay for their classes. We still offer the valuable and unique make up class system (plus an extended make up class system for those who’ll be away for extended periods of time). This new system is completely secure and hassle free, making it much easier for you to enjoy and benefit from our specialist Pilates classes. We are also offering PAYG Pilates for those who want flexibility or can’t commit to a regular class. 

Growing Team 

In July, we were joined by experienced Physiotherapist, Chris. With a special interest in exercise based rehabilitation, Chris is making the most of our onsite facilities in the Strong Room, to incorporate the most up to date treatments into his patient treatment programmes. Chris is also part of our Pilates Instructor team and has even started his own blog, focusing on one of his clinical passions of making strength training less scary! 

Will is the newest member of our team. He joins us to provide top quality sports massage and soft tissue therapy, increasing the availability of this service in the evenings and Saturday mornings. In addition to having a level 4 sports massage qualification, Will is just finishing of an MSc in rehabilitation, so is well equipped to support your recovery and injury concerns. 

Professional Courses 

We’ve had a busy year hosting a number of courses for fellow health care professionals. Courses this year have included:

• Modern exercise prescription for therapists with Nick Grantham
• Running Repairs with Tom Goom
• Unravelling Strength & Conditioning for Therapists with Andrew McCauley from ProCare Sport
• Paediatric & Adolescent Musculoskeletal disorders – an introduction with Tom Quantrell

We really enjoy hosting these courses. Our team benefits from the excellent course content as part of their CPD, we get to meet lot’s of other fantastic local professionals and also form links with some excellent thought leaders who are sharing their knowledge. 

WOW! What a busy year! When you see it all written out, it really does make you stop and think about what we’ve all worked on and achieved. 

And most importantlly that doesn’t include the thousands of people we’ve helped over the year. Those in agony we’ve managed to see within hours of their first call, those who’ve been living with pain for years and thought there was no hope, those that thought their event was in jeopardy because of an injury but who we helped get to the finish line! 

As we look forward to 2019, we have a whole host of exciting plans on the horizon. But crucial to all of that and at the heart of everything we do is………..

Helping local people live a healthy, active, positive life, pain & injury free.

If you’d like to start 2019 feeling great, looking forward to taking on new challenges and taking care of your body so that you can actually do what you want to do, get in touch. You can drop us an email, book a consultation online or give us a call on 023 8025 3317.