Hydrotherapy is like 'gold dust', says Solent NHS Trust's clinical specialist physio Claire Jeffries

Physiotherapy manager and clinical specialist Claire Jeffries has likened the therapeutic benefits of hydrotherapy to ‘gold dust’. Claire’s positive evaluation of the approach appears in an article that was published last week (7 December) on Solent NHS Trust’s website.

It was welcomed in a tweet by Chartered Society of Physiotherapy chief executive Karen Middleton. The society is encouraging its members to campaign to keep NHS pools open. See: https://www.csp.org.uk/frontline/article/no-hydrotherapy-pools-no-way

Claire said: ‘Working together with our colleagues from the critical care unit at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust to enable ventilator patients to access hydrotherapy treatment is so beneficial for the patient. It helps us start the recovery work earlier, so patients can get better and back home quicker.’

She added: ‘I feel privileged that we can offer this sort of treatment. It is like gold dust – it’s a wonderful therapy to treat patients.’

The article describes how hydrotherapy has helped a patient called Mark Hobbs, who was diagnosed with Guillain-Barre syndrome earlier this year.

[Hydrotherapy] helps us start the recovery work earlier, so patients can get better and back home quicker. I feel privileged that we can offer this sort of treatment [Claire Jeffries]

Progress since August

Another firm advocate for hydrotherapy is Claire’s colleague physiotherapist Laura Papineau, who has worked at the pool at Queen Alexandra Hospital in Portsmouth for 13 years. She said: ‘Mark was on a ventilator for seven months. When he first started hydro in August, he was able to move his arms and legs out to the side and back in again, whereas on dry land he can’t access those movements yet.

‘What this means is that we can start to get the muscles working again far sooner than we could have done if we weren’t using the hydrotherapy pool – it aids a speedier recovery of muscle function to allow people to get home more quickly.'

Claire is delighted with Mark's progress: ‘Mark is at Portsmouth Hospitals neuro rehabilitation ward at QAH and having a full rehab team approach with hydro, occupational therapy and land-based physiotherapy, alongside his medical and nursing care needs.'

Mark, who is now able to walk in the pool and is continuing to get stronger with every twice-weekly session, added: ‘All the staff have been amazing. The first time I felt myself move in months was in the pool and it was so amazing. I look forward to taking my wife [Suzi] out when I recover. She has been my rock.’

To read the full version of the article, visit: https://www.solent.nhs.uk/our-stories/blogs/posts/2022/december/the-healing-nature-of-hydrotherapy