There are two main ways that people can access the services of The Alexandra Hospital for back pain, explains Dr Saxena.
GP-led urgent care centre
“One of them is a GP-led urgent care centre, for patients in acute pain who are struggling to get relief and must seek urgent medical attention,” say Dr Saxena.
Here, highly experienced GPs will “take a full history and perform a detailed examination of the patient and arrange for necessary investigations,” he says.
Depending on the outcome of these examinations and tests, the GP may refer the patient to a spine specialist or a physiotherapist. These specialists are usually widely available in the hospital and can quickly provide assistance if there is an urgent condition that needs addressing.
Self-referral
The second way is by self-referral. Patients can directly book to see a spinal specialist — some specialists may require a GP referral, Dr Saxena says, while others like himself happily see patients without a GP referral.
To make sure the underlying cause of your back pain is not something more serious, your consultant will ask you a series of questions about your medical history. This is to accurately diagnose the cause of your back pain and establish the course of your treatment.
They may perform an imaging test, such as:
- a CT scan
- an X-ray
- an MRI scan of the spine or relevant parts of the spine
They may also ask you to take some standard blood tests and sometimes a urine test.
Spinal specialists
“The good thing about The Alexandra Hospital is that we are one of the biggest spinal centres in the private healthcare sector in the country. So [there is] a spinal specialist available on most days to see a patient if the need arises,” Dr Saxena says. He adds that same-day appointments are also available, depending on how busy the clinic is that day.
The spinal specialist, much like the GP, will ask a series of questions about the patient’s medical history and occupation. They will also perform a thorough examination, including imaging tests and any other specific investigation they feel is necessary.
“The advantage of seeing the spinal specialist is that more spine specialists are able to read and interpret the scans by themselves [...] if there is something urgent.”
Eventually, the specialists will catch up with the radiologists to make sure they haven’t missed anything, Dr Saxena adds.