CATS (Community Assessment and Triage Services) 

If you have a CATS appointment with us, here is what to expect.

Before your CATS appointment

Our Community Assessment and Triage Services (commonly known as ‘CATS’) are designed to provide specialist assessment and treatment for people with complex problems that are complex, severe or have not improved as expected. 

Clinicians working in our CATS teams are experienced Advanced Clinical Practitioners. They may hold professional qualifications in: 

• Nursing 
• Occupational Therapy 
• Osteopathy
• Physiotherapy 
• Podiatry 
• Chiropractic medicine

The clinician you see may specialise in MSK (musculoskeletal), rheumatology, or pain management depending on the nature of your problem and the service that is right for you.

Our CATS appointments are designed to: 

• Gain a detailed understanding of your condition.
• Complete a physical assessment. 
• Provide initial advice, a diagnosis and prognosis (where this is possible).
• Make a decision with you about your treatment plan.

Treatment plans agreed with clinicians in our CATS services can include MSK rehabilitation, referrals for tests (e.g. X-ray, MRI or blood tests), injections, and referral for specialist hospital services (e.g. orthopaedic surgery).

First appointments are typically 30 minutes. They can be by telephone, video or in-person. Follow-up appointments tend to be slightly shorter.

To prepare for your appointment, please: 

• Identify the key questions you would like to ask 
• Have an up-to-date list of medications and your medical history to hand 
• Wear comfortable, loose-fitting clothing. Your clinician may ask you to partially undress to examine the body part in question

During your CATS appointment

We’ll ask you questions about: 

• Your pain / condition including what treatments you may have already tried 
• Your lifestyle and usual exercise/physical activity routines 
• Your goals (what you would like to return to doing) 
• Your medical history, including previous treatment 
• Your medications 

After your CATS appointment

We’ll ask you questions about: 

At the end of the appointment, we will agree a plan for the next steps in your care (should further input be needed).  

This may include:

• referral for MSK rehabilitation,
• referral for tests such as X-ray, MRI scans or blood tests
• injection treatment
• referral for hospital assessment, eg knee surgery

Changing or cancelling your appointment 

If you can no longer attend an appointment, then letting us know early often means it can be used by someone else who is waiting. If you don’t already have the contact details for the service your appointment is with, you can find them on your local service page. 

Got a question?

Get in touch with our team now.