It feels as if physiotherapy is on the cusp of something big.
As some feature articles in this issue show, there are opportunities out there for CSP members to grasp, working in primary care settings.
In Stirling, two physios are based in a GP practice, part of a pilot by Forth Valley Health Board. And a similar scheme runs in Grangemouth, near Falkirk. They already allow doctors to spend more time with patients with non-musculoskeletal conditions (page 32). In those examples, the impetus for change came from a shortage of GPs.
The society was exhibiting at the Primary Care show last month, in Birmingham. There, GPs told CSP staff that they’d consider employing a physio, rather than another doctor, should one of their existing team members leave. What a step forward!
If you’re interested to know more about how you might make the move into primary care, take a look at our Q&A on page 16.
On a less positive note, as our cover picture shows, we’re also having to fight hard to save cash-strapped clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) from cutting physiotherapy services.
We managed to fight that threat in Mid-Essex; now it’s coming from the CCG in Worcestershire. Where next?
And isn’t it strange that, while one part of the primary care world has, at long last, recognised the crucial role of physiotherapy, another is intent on cutting it – often purely through ignorance?
- Lynn Eaton managing editor Frontline and head of CSP member communications eatonl@csp.org.uk
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Lynn Eaton managing editor Frontline and head of CSP member communicationsNumber of subscribers: 1
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