The physiotherapy workforce needs to grow, within broader changes to our health and care workforce. Growth is required across all professions, but with nurses, physiotherapists, other AHPs & non-medical professionals and support workers forming a larger part of the workforce.
The physiotherapy workforce is growing and represents a solution to immediate shortages in other professions in the NHS.
The skills and expertise it offers can also help drive the transformation of primary care and community services in the longer term.
But it needs to keep pace with demand, which is growing due to an ageing population and ever more people living with at least one long-term condition.
What we're calling for in the plan:
- Greater numbers of undergraduate training places
- Training and development to allow more physiotherapists to work at advanced practice level
- Continued growth and responsibility for the unregistered workforce, including investment in advanced level support worker posts.
The CSP says:
‘The NHS of the future needs fewer silos and greater appreciation of the skills and expertise that exist across the workforce.
‘We need people working at the top of their licence to make full use of that expertise and no longer design services based on how it’s always been done.
‘The long-term plan offers the chance to break down the barriers that exist and deliver a workforce that best meets the needs of patients.’
CSP response to the NHS Long Term plan: Workforce
Read our full response to the NHS England Long Term Plan.