Services A to Z

We are an interdisciplinary group of NHS healthcare providers working across physical and mental health settings.

We offer Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy and Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction for patients and staff.

The main focus of mindfulness provision in NHSGGC is for people suffering recurrent depression, but we also offer courses for people with chronic pain, anxiety and other conditions.  

Our mindfulness app contains audio recordings of guided practices as well as links to online resources. The GG&C Mindfulness app is available to download for free from the Google play store for Android, and the App store for iOS.  

We will soon update this website with more resources for patients and staff. 

Useful Links

Glasgow has two specialist rehabilitation centres located at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital & Inverclyde Royal Hospital.

Our unit was previously called Physically Disabled Rehabilitation Unit (PDRU) but was rebranded in early 2022.

Recent Publications

The Glasgow Safe Haven woks on hundreds of innovative, data-driven research projects since it was created over nearly a decade.

Our NHS datasets foster better care for patients in Glasgow and beyond. Projects include large-scale partnerships between NHS, academia and industry partners. We work to help students at the earliest stage of their research career, .

Projects

The Safe Haven provides a Secure Data Environment (SDE) to let researchers link their datasets to the health histories of NHS GGC patient populations. We have a delegated ethics route to approve projects. The service uses advanced anonymisation methods to preserve patient privacy. Data is hosted on a secure analytics platform provided in partnership with the Robertson Centre for Biostatistics.

If you have questions about our data services, see the Glasgow Safe Haven FAQ.

Datasets

Safe Haven data staff facilitate the import, description and secure re-use of novel NHS and research datasets from a wide-range of sources.

Datasets are tiered according to re-use permissions, with Tier 1 for general research use, Tier 2 for research use only with specific permissions from data owners, and Tier 3 for restricted or no re-use.

Our governance and security standards create a safe method to create new value from existing data sources.

If you have a Glasgow-centric dataset you may like to add to the Safe Haven’s collection, contact the Safe Haven team.

Learn more about the data services the West of Scotland Safe Haven provides by checking out our Glasgow Safe Haven User Guide and Safe Haven FAQ.

Data Linkage

The West of Scotland Safe Haven can help you safely link your existing studies to rich NHS datasets held in our secure environment.

By data linkage, you can interrogate large, diverse, de-identified datasets to test hypotheses and create longitudinal cohorts.

Feasibility Studies

Interested in developing a study using West of Scotland Safe Haven datasets? Not sure if the data is there to secure the funding you need? The West of Scotland Safe Haven can scope concepts and provide feasibility reports to support your next research project.

Patient Recruitment

For clinical trials in the Glasgow and West of Scotland region, the Safe Haven can create cohort reports to your own specifications and provide patient group output to support your next CTIMP and more.

Innovation Support

The West of Scotland Safe Haven works closely with the West of Scotland Innovation Hub to provide professional support for exciting, novel NHS projects. Whether it’s Big Data machine learning, designing new patient support algorithms, or brand new service improvement initiatives, our NHS datasets and experienced data analysts help bring NHS GGC innovation projects to life.

If you have more questions before contacting us, see the Glasgow Safe Haven FAQ.

The West of Scotland Safe Haven, like the other Safe Havens in Scotland, provides an approved governance route and secure environment for trusted research partners to access and link to our anonymised NHS datasets.

Learn more by reading the Safe Haven User Guide

Research Affiliations

Researchers must be employed by, or have some professional affiliation with, an approved public sector institution, whilst industry partners are bound by data sharing agreements that stipulate the strict terms under which we may confer access to Safe Haven datasets.

Anyone accessing Safe Haven data will have completed an approved information governance course, will agree to follow the strict rules for using the Safe Haven datasets, and are bound by both their professional and ethical standards, and by existing UK and EU data protection laws.

Local Privacy and Advisory Committee

Routes to gain access to Safe Haven datasets are accredited by the Scottish Government. The West of Scotland Safe Haven has a Local Privacy and Advisory Committee (LPAC) of experienced NHS, academic and public stakeholders who scrutinise applications and offer guidance on data protection.

Datasets held by Safe Haven, depending on their origin, may have additional data controller safeguards in place, that will require further permissions to be sought before they can be linked and re-used.

Security

Safe Haven datasets and linked extracts are all secured according to NHS and University of Glasgow IT security standards. Data may not be removed or copied from the Safe Haven environments, and strict controls prevent unauthorised access to anyone other than approved Safe Haven users.

All data extracts are quality checked, and researchers may only ever remove limited and approved aggregated tabular data or charts from the Safe Haven to support publications.

Address

The West of Scotland Safe Haven is based at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in the Imaging Centre of Excellence (ICE) Building (2nd Floor), Langlands Drive, G51 4LP

For map see HERE

Email Us

To email the Safe Haven team use ggc.safehaven.admin@nhs.scot

Our Team

The Safe Haven Team includes the West of Scotland Safe Haven Manager, a Project Manager, Data Managers, and several analysts.

The Glasgow Safe Haven has close links with the West of Scotland Innovation Hub.

The Glasgow Safe Haven is part of the Research and Development division of NHSGGC.

Being referred to orthopaedics

You may be referred into Orthopaedics by your GP or another specialist service or following attendance at the Emergency Department.

If you have been referred by your GP or another service with an ongoing issue, a clinician in the Orthopaedic Department will look at your referral letter and make a decision about the appropriate clinic for you to attend. This is called vetting.

If you have been referred by Emergency Department following an injury, you will receive a phone call the following day from a member of our specialist nursing staff who will either give you medical advice or ask you to attend an appointment at our Fracture Clinic.

Arranging your appointment

Once your referral has been vetted, your name will be added to the outpatient waiting list under the care of a consultant or extended scope physiotherapy practitioner (ESP).

You will be sent a letter inviting you to call the booking office within 7 days to arrange a clinic appointment. If you fail to call the booking office within 7 days, a reminder letter will be sent to you. If you fail to call the booking office after a further 7 days, your name will be removed from the waiting list and your GP will be informed. If you still wish an appointment after this, you will have to contact your GP to be re-referred.

If appropriate, you may receive a phone call to arrange a telephone or video appointment instead.

To facilitate this process please ensure that your contact information is up-to-date.

If you wish to reschedule your appointment, please call the booking office on 0141 201 3114 or 0141 201 3105. You can also email us at GRI.OrthopaedicOutpatients@ggc.scot.nhs.uk.

If you are asked to attend an orthopaedic appointment

If you have been asked to attend the orthopaedic outpatient clinic. There are a number of specialist clinicians in the department who could see you. This will depend on the type of injury/complaint you have.

If you require transport for the upcoming appointment, please arrange this one week in advance, by calling: 0300 123 1236. You will be asked a series of questions about your mobility, this is to assess if you are eligible for ambulance transport.

Outpatient clinics are located in Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Stobhill Hospital.

Following your appointment

The clinician will discuss the best course of action for you. There are a number of possible outcomes of this:

• You may be sent for an investigation (e.g. MRI scan)
• You may be sent for a second opinion
• You may be given a return appointment to our orthopaedic outpatient clinic
• You may be added to the waiting list for surgery
• You may be discharged

Inpatient Waiting List

At your appointment, the clinician may have a discussion with you about adding you to the waiting list for surgery. If you agree, your name will then be added to the list.

You will receive a letter informing you of this, along with a Patient’s Right Act leaflet

As an patient you have a responsibility to:

• Keep your agreed hospital appointments and attend for admissions
• Let us know if you need to cancel an appointment or admission
• Let us know if you are going to be unavailable for a period of time
• Let us know if you change your name, address or telephone detail

Reasonable Offer

We will offer all patients two reasonable offers of an appointment for treatment. If you do not accept either of these offers we may remove you from our waiting list and return you back to the care of your GP.

A reasonable offer includes an offer, either written or verbal, of treatment in any NHS Greater Glasgow or Clyde (NHSGGC) hospital. We will give you a minimum of 7 days’ notice of this appointment.

The IDDSI (International Dysphagia Diet Standardisation Initiative) framework consists of definitions to describe texture modified foods and thickened liquids, where drinks are measured from Levels 0-4, and foods are measured from Levels 3-7.  

NHSGGC Dietetics has worked closely with our Speech and Language Therapy colleagues to produce a series of videos about IDDSI and Dysphagia. For more information about Speech and Language Therapy within NHSGGC, please see their website below.

The first 3 videos provide an overview of IDDSI and dysphagia, including all IDDSI levels 0-7, hydration and food fortification. This now includes a video from the Speech and language therapy team on how to assist a resident with eating and drinking.  

The videos thereafter show demonstrations by an IDDSI trained chef. This gives insight into how some everyday foods can be modified to the correct recommended textures. The videos are broken down into the different components of the meal for easy accessibility. 

NHSGGC Dietetics has worked closely with our Speech and Language Therapy colleagues to produce an IDDSI snack poster, which provides both sweet and savoury snack ideas for diet level 4 through to level 7 ‘easy to chew’. 

Glasgow Clinical Gait Analysis Service

The Glasgow Clinical Gait Analysis Laboratory assesses children and adults with complex gait problems. Gait analysis equipment is used to measure how the person walks and using this information a multidisciplinary team compiles a set of treatment recommendations, which can include medical, physiotherapy and orthotic interventions.

Our Team

• Dr Bruce Carse, Clinical Scientist
• Mrs Laura Wiggins, Principal Physiotherapist
• Miss Janet McCaul, Orthopaedic Consultant (Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow)
• Mr Mohamed Osman, Locum Orthopaedic Consultant (Royal Hospital for Children, Glasgow)

What is Gait analysis?

Gait analysis is a way of analysing how a person walks and helps clinicians to understand their difficulties. This information is then used to develop a treatment plan to help them walk better.

In the laboratory, we place some skin markers on the legs and trunk using sticky tape and then use 3D motion capture technology to give more information than is possible by simply observing a person walking.

We also use Video Vector Analysis which assists in identifying the forces acting on the legs and help identify how to improve the gait, possibly using an orthosis.

There is also detailed clinical examination which looks at:

• The movement at joints
• Muscle power
• Bone alignment
• The ability to control movement
• Muscle tone
• Balance

Walking is a complex activity involving biomechanical and neurological factors. Biomechanics relates to the movement of the joints and segments of the legs and the forces acting upon them. The neurological aspects involve the control of the muscles by the brain and the nervous system to produce forces. In particular the reactivity of muscles to stretch is of importance. We call this approach to gait analysis ‘Neurobiomechanics’.

Who do we see?

Children and adults with a physical disability which causes complex walking problems. Issues cannot be identified with simple procedures such as observational analysis or routine clinical examination.

Conditions we see include Cerebral Palsy, traumatic brain injuries and other neurological conditions, Myelomeningocele, Muscular Dystrophy, lower limb and foot deformity.

In addition the patient should be:

• At least 4 years old
• Able to cope with a session which can take up to two hours, although the pace of assessment can be tailored to the child
• Able to walk at least 15 metres, independently or using assistive devices or orthoses if appropriate. The use of walking aids is acceptable (e.g. sticks, crutches, rear and forward-facing walkers), however we are not able to assess patients using aids that support the trunk during walking

Gait analysis for adults and children with amputation is arranged by Prosthetics Service staff within WestMARC, primarily as part of the Scottish Specialist Prosthetics Service.

Please refer to the ‘Patient Information Sheet’ links below for more detailed information.

Who can refer?

Orthopaedic Consultants, Paediatricians, Neurologists, Physiotherapists, Prosthetists and Orthotists.
Patients (or their parents/carers) should be aware of the referral and it is helpful where appropriate for the referrer to inform the patient’s wider multi-disciplinary team. It is anicipated that the referrer will provide feedback to the patients (or their parents/carers) after the gait report is finalised unless agreed otherwise.

Referral Information

This must include the reason for referral, for example:
Considering an intervention and would like information to assist decision making (e.g. surgery, SDR, botulinum toxin)
Deterioration in gait is suspected and objective assessment would assist in identifying management strategies
Information to support appropriate orthotic alignment or management

Referrals should also include a clear clinical question, or information you would like the report to include. This will assist in tailoring the assessment and report to answer the clinical question.

Referral form

Information about gait assessments

IPEM: Improving mobility with gait analysis

Other useful links

• WestMARC Gait Analysis Supplementary Information
• Selective Dorsal Rhizotomy (SDR) service
• The WestMARC Glasgow Clinical Gait Analysis Service is accredited by the Clinical Movement Analysis Society of UK and Ireland (CMAS)