‘Do your patient notes in your proper hours,’ CSP urges members

This is the day when the average person who does unpaid overtime finishes the unpaid days they do every year, and starts earning for themselves.

This year on the TUC-led Work Your Proper Hours Day the CSP is highlighting the importance of physiotherapy staff ensuring their notes are done during their proper hours.

This comes amid growing concerns of unacceptable workloads and a ‘long-hours’ culture among physio staff.

Many say they regularly start work from 20 to 30 minutes earlier than their allotted hours, finishing the day up to 30 minutes later, a motion to the CSP’s Annual Representative Conference in 2015 stated.

CSP evidence to the NHS pay review body for the 2016-17 pay round indicated around a quarter of members working in the NHS always work more than their contracted hours and 71 per cent said this was in order to ‘catch up on paperwork’.

This issue is not only a matter of decent working conditions for staff, said CSP national health and safety officer Donna Steele: ‘When the pressure is on the temptation is to leave work incomplete or do unpaid overtime. When this happens you run the risk of disciplinary action or dismissal if you fail to achieve your employer or Health and Care Professions Council requirements on record keeping.

‘You are also at risk of going off sick through stress and fatigue due to over-work. This could lead to clinical errors, caused by fatigue and lack of concentration, potentially harming patients.’

Work Your Proper Hours Day takes place on 24 February, but your own pay day may come earlier or later, depending on the hours you work above your contracted hours. Use the TUC’s online unpaid overtime calculator to find out when you can celebrate paying off your long hours debt.