Weekly spin class ‘better than physio' for people with common hip issue
The approach could also be more cost-effective for the NHS and could help tackle waiting times for physiotherapy, according to researchers.
Hip osteoarthritis happens when the cartilage in the hip breaks down, causing pain and stiffness.
It it estimated that the condition affects about 3.2 million people in the UK.
For the trial, experts from Bournemouth University and University Hospitals Dorset (UHD) compared usual physiotherapy care with an eight-week exercise and education programme known as Chain (cycling against hip pain).
The study, published in The Lancet Rheumatology, included 211 people, with roughly half assigned to each group.
The Chain group attended weekly education sessions from a physiotherapist, lasting around 30 minutes, followed by a 30-minute session of static cycling led by a gym instructor.
The effects of treatment on patients were measured by the Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS) activities of daily living (ADL) subscale, which assesses how hip problems affect various daily activities.
The study found those who completed the cycling classes had a 'statistically significant improvement in patient-reported function after treatment'.
Researchers said the method 'showed superior outcomes compared with usual physiotherapy care, and the feasibility of delivering a low-cost, community-based intervention within the NHS was shown'.
However, they stress the 'longer-term benefits and broader generalisability warrant further investigation'.
Tom Wainwright, a professor of orthopaedics at Bournemouth University and a physiotherapist at UHD, said: 'For the time it takes to treat one patient using standard physiotherapy, we can treat multiple patients in a group session and provide them with better outcomes.
'This has proved to be more cost-effective than standard treatment and so we hope this will contribute to reducing NHS waiting times for physiotherapy treatment in the future.'
Professor Rob Middleton, of Bournemouth University and an orthopaedic surgeon at UHD, said: 'Hip replacements cost the NHS over £6,000 per patient, so avoiding surgery for hip problems reduces the burden on the NHS, saves money, and provides better outcomes for patients.
'Now with this new study we can also see the potential for static cycling to save further money for the NHS by bringing down waiting lists for physiotherapy.'
Dr Peter Wilson, chief medical officer at UHD, said: 'We are an ageing population and increasingly we are seeing more patients with osteoarthritis that need either surgery or physiotherapy.
'Finding alternative ways to treat these patients could help reduce waiting times and the financial demand on NHS services.'
The Chain intervention was first launched in 2013 and patients who wish to take part are referred to UHD from their GP.
To bolster access on a national level, experts from Bournemouth University had developed a virtual course on their education app, allowing people to follow the programme from their home or local gym.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Care worker who left suicidal teenager alone had fake ID and fled UK after she died, inquest told
An agency care worker who failed to supervise a suicidal teenage girl at a scandal-hit mental health hospital was working under a fake ID and fled the country shortly after she died, an inquest has heard. Ruth Szymankiewicz, 14, died after she was left alone at Huntercombe Hospital, near Maidenhead in Berkshire, despite requiring constant one-to-one observation, jurors at the inquest were told. The hearing was told that the support worker who had been responsible for monitoring Ruth had only gone through a day or a day and a half of online training before his first shift at the children's psychiatric hospital on 12 February 2022. He left his shift at 8pm when it ended, but should have waited to hand over to another worker before doing so, to ensure Ruth could be watched at all times. But the coroner told the jury he 'just left', meaning Ruth was left alone for 15 minutes. In that time, Ruth, who had an eating disorder, made her way to her room where she committed an act of self-harm. She was found and resuscitated, and transferred to the local acute hospital, John Radcliffe in Oxford, where she was admitted to intensive care. Ruth died two days later, on 14 February, having suffered brain injury. Assistant coroner for Buckinghamshire Ian Wade said it later emerged that the worker, who joined the hospital on the day Ruth was left unattended, had been using false identity documents and was hired through an agency under a false name, Ebo Achempong. 'The evidence showed he had been employed through an agency, who checked his identity documents, and they even trained him by putting him through a day or day and a half course,' Mr Wade told jurors. 'It appears that these particular processes were the norm and were sufficient to enable a hospital to employ this person. But on 12 February, he did not keep Ruth under a constant watch. 'Some time around eight in the evening, this man ended his shift without knowing where she was and without making sure that he handed her over to another member of staff to continue the one-to-one care regime. 'He simply left.' Mr Wade continued: 'It turned out he wasn't Ebo Achempong, that was a false name. He had been assisted to acquire a false identity documents, and he never returned to work at Huntercombe.' After Ruth's death, police tracked down the worker's phone, which revealed he had gone 'to Heathrow airport and got on a plane to Ghana'. The coroner said police think they know 'who he truly was', but that he was 'never seen again' after leaving the country. 'It seems that he learnt what happened that evening,' Mr Wade said. "He let Ruth down. He let everyone down.' The inquest, which started on Monday, heard Ruth should have been under continuous one-to-one observations and watched at all times following a suicide attempt on 7 February. When Ruth was left unsupervised, she was able to asphyxiate herself, the coroner said. A post-mortem examination carried out by the Home Office later determined the preliminary cause of death to be 'hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy' – a type of brain damage due to lack of oxygen. After Ruth's death, the Care Quality Commission launched a criminal investigation alongside the police. Police have taken no further action. The CQC has not stated whether it will take forward a prosecution. The court further heard that the privately run Huntercombe Hospital had been inspected twice by the CQC prior to the incident. 'The CQC had not reported favourably on Huntercombe,' the coroner told the inquest. The Huntercombe Hospital in Maidenhead, also called Taplow Manor, closed in 2023 after joint investigations by The Independent and Sky News. It was part of a group, formerly run by The Huntercombe Group and now taken over by Active Care Group. Ruth's parents, Kate and Mark, who are both doctors, read out a pen portrait for their daughter describing her as 'cheeky, kind, blunt yet deeply thoughtful'. 'Ruth was born in 2007, our firstborn and the first baby within most of our friendship groups and social circles. She was born with a head of bright red hair, perhaps the first indication of the fiery, determined and at times stubborn side of her. But that red head was also a sign of her huge heart, of her deep passion for life and the huge well of love she had within her.' They said Ruth was 'intelligent, creative with a spirit that made her unforgettable', and that 'she lived life wholeheartedly' and 'had big ideas she wanted to help the world'. 'She died at the age of just 14, too young ... Her death has shattered us, her wider family, and it's had a profound impact on all of us.' Ruth had suffered from Tourette syndrome and a tic condition, which had impacted her mental health. She was also diagnosed with an eating disorder, all conditions which emerged during and after the Covid-19 pandemic. In the weeks before her admission to Taplow Manor, she was admitted to a general acute ward at Salisbury Hospital, where she spent a few weeks following a self-harm attempt. At the time, she was under the care of the local community child and adolescent mental health team. While at Salisbury, she suffered a 'traumatic' incident in which her nasogastric (NG) tube, used for feeding, was inserted into her lungs. On 4 October, with no other beds available, Ruth was sent to Taplow Manor, tens of miles away from her home and family. Ruth's mother, Kate, told the court that the family were pressured and told that there was no choice when they were told by doctors that their daughter would be admitted to Thames Ward, at Taplow Manor, which is a psychiatric intensive care unit. These units are wards for the most severely mentally unwell children, and guidance says patients should be on these wards for just 8 weeks. However, Ruth was on the ward from October 2021 until her death in February 2022. In a statement to the court, Ms Szymankiewicz described a series of concerns over the care of her daughter, including that the family were only able to see their daughter twice a week. She said the family were not told of several self-harm attempts and injuries. Ruth, according to her mother, had no access to psychological support and had just two sessions with an assistant psychiatrist in the four months before her death, she told the court. 'Her days were shaped by being restrained, NG fed and watched by staff. She said, 'Do I need to hurt myself so I can go to a normal hospital?' 'She was desperate, nothing displayed that more poignantly than the note Ruth left before she died… 'We felt we had to push for information. You could see Ruth was deteriorating. Ruth was being provided with so little therapeutic care,' Ms Szymankiewicz said. She also described how their daughter was given unsupervised access to her phone on the ward despite her parents raising repeated concerns. In December, on a visit home for Christmas, Ruth grew anxious at the thought of going back to hospital. She allegedly told her parents she would 'rather die than go back to Thames Ward'. She was so distressed that she had to be taken back to hospital in handcuffs and foot restraints, an incident her mother described as 'traumatic.' Five days before the fatal self-harm attempt, Ruth was able to self-harm in a very similar fashion after she was left alone for 30 minutes, the court heard. Ruth's parents found out she was supposed to be on 15-minute observations, down from constant; however, after the 7 February incident, observations were increased to constant again. Ending her statement, Ms Szymankiewicz said of her daughter: 'She was managed and contained and not helped. The things Ruth had to endure would've felt like torture to her and something she would've done anything to escape.' 'The loss of a child, I don't think anyone who hasn't experienced it can truly understand … We hope the process of unpicking her story might influence the care of others going forward.' The inquest at Buckinghamshire Coroner's Court in Beaconsfield continues. If you are experiencing feelings of distress or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans in confidence on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@ or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch. If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call or text 988, or visit to access online chat from the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week. If you are in another country, you can go to to find a helpline near you. For anyone struggling with the issues raised in this article, eating disorder charity Beat's helpline is available 365 days a year on 0808 801 0677. NCFED offers information, resources and counselling for those suffering from eating disorders, as well as their support networks. Visit or call 0845 838 2040 Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Staff 'literally sleep on their shifts', wrote girl who died while receiving psychiatric care
A 14-year-old girl who died while she was a patient on a psychiatric unit wrote a letter before she died saying "staff literally sleep on their shifts" and how she thought the hospital should be "shut down". Ruth Szymankiewicz died after a self-harm incident at Huntercombe Hospital in Berkshire. Her note also said there was "non-existent therapy" for patients and an "unsafe number of staff" at the hospital which has since closed down. And it said that Huntercombe "makes you 10 times worse than when you came". Ruth was supposed to have one-to-one supervision but an inquest into her death was told her support worker , which was also his first day working at Huntercombe. It's been revealed he used a fake passport to falsify his identity, and days after Ruth's death fled the UK on a plane to Ghana. The jury was played CCTV footage from the hospital which showed Ruth walking through Thames Ward where she was a patient without anyone accompanying her despite the Level 3 observations requiring someone to watch her at all times. She is seen entering her bedroom and closing the door behind her. It was during this period of less than 20 minutes that she harmed herself. Staff attempted to resuscitate Ruth, but she died two days later at the John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. The inquest heard how Ruth's support worker had been working on another ward at the hospital but had been moved during the day to her ward because it was short-staffed. Read more: Clinical team leader Ellesha Brannigan, who worked on Thames Ward, told the inquest how support workers should verbally hand over to each other including handing over a clipboard which contained details about the patient. Huntercombe Hospital, which was also known as Taplow Manor, was investigated by Sky News and The Independent and in 2023 the unit was shut down. The inquest continues.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Girl who died in hospital ‘should have been watched at all times', inquest hears
A teenager who died after an agency worker with false identity papers left her unsupervised at a children's mental health hospital should have been kept within eyesight at all times, an inquest has heard. Ruth Szymankiewicz was being treated for an eating disorder at Huntercombe Hospital in Berkshire and had been placed under strict one-to-one observation when on February 12 2022 she was able to shut herself in her bedroom alone for 15 minutes, a jury inquest held at Buckinghamshire Coroner's Court heard on Tuesday. The 14-year-old girl self-harmed and died two days later at John Radcliffe Hospital in Oxford. It later emerged the member of staff responsible for watching Ruth at the hospital's psychiatric intensive care unit – a man then known as Ebo Acheampong – had been using false identity documents and was hired under a false name. The teenager was last captured on CCTV walking out of the ward's day room 'completely on her own' before going straight to her bedroom and closing the door behind her, coroner Ian Wade KC told the hearing. Jurors were shown the footage in which 15 minutes pass before a nurse opens the door, then covers her mouth in what appears to be an expression of shock. Ellesha Brannigan, who worked as a clinical team leader on the ward, told the court on Tuesday she ran to Ruth's bedroom after the alarm was raised and found the teenage girl lying unconscious. 'She was just still,' Ms Brannigan said, adding the teenage girl was not breathing and staff initiated chest compressions in an attempt to revive her. About a week prior, Ruth's care plan had been escalated to 'level three observation' after a similar self-harming incident, Ms Brannigan told the court. 'Level three observation is within eyesight at all times,' she told the hearing. Staff members would take turns watching Ruth for 60 minutes at a time, the inquest heard. Ms Brannigan further told the inquest 'level two observation' would have still required a member of staff check on the patient 'every five or 10 minutes'. Asked by the coroner if there were circumstances in which a member of staff responsible for a level three observation could take their eyes off the patient, she replied: 'No. 'If they (the patient) are prescribed level three observation, you must comply with what is prescribed.' The coroner previously said Mr Acheampong will not be giving evidence at the inquest as he fled the UK for Ghana shortly after Ruth's death. The inquest continues.
