Welcome to our Carlisle South Lakes NHS Clinic

The South Lakes NHS Blatchford Orthotics team covers the Morecambe Bay Trust, including Furness General Hospital, Westmoreland General Hospital and the Royal Lancaster Infirmary. We are a small team that work closely alongside Physiotherapy, Podiatry, Orthopaedics and other healthcare departments to provide orthotic care within the hospital and community. 

Across Furness General Hospital, Westmoreland General Hospital and Royal Lancaster Infirmary, we provide a range of services involving orthotic treatment. This includes diabetic foot management services, where we regularly assist the podiatry teams to manage vulnerable feet, joint multidisciplinary paediatric orthopaedic clinics, where on a weekly basis we join Paediatric Consultants to assess children with a wide range of condition, including developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH), CTEV or “clubfoot”. We also see adults and children for leg length discrepancies, foot and lower leg deformities, joint pains and gait issues. 

Satellite Clinics

Our orthotic clinics are also held at the following locations:

• West Cumberland Hospital
• Workington Community Hospital
• Penrith Community Hospital
• Mayfield School
• James Rennie School
• Keswick Community Hospital
• Whitehaven Child Development Centre

Referral Process 

In order to be seen by your local Orthotic service, we require a referral, either electronic or written, from a recognised healthcare professional with details as to what the orthotic goal from their referral is. For example, this could be a GP, Physiotherapist, Consultant or Podiatrist. We then triage all referrals for an appointment with an Orthotist. This could be as an inpatient on one of our hospital sites, or as an outpatient. 

Depending on the nature of your referral, the Orthotist allocated to your appointment will carry out an assessment, including history taking and a physical examination to come to a decision how best to move forwards with your treatment.  For each individual, the Orthotist will use a combination of their expertise and evidence based practice from national guidelines to provide the most appropriate Orthotic solution within the service.