A musculoskeletal (MSK) physiotherapy team from Oxfordshire has received recognition for the high quality placements it provides to students.
Professor Val Heath, practice placement quality lead, Health Education England, physiotherapists Cat Hatton and Gill Jones and Dr Astrid Schloerscheidt, pro vice-chancellor and dean of the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences, Oxford Brookes University
The team from Abingdon Community Hospital prevailed in three categories of the 2017 Placement of the Year awards, run by Oxford Brookes University.
Physios from the hospital, which is part of Oxford Health NHS Trust, picked up their awards at a ceremony held at the university last month/ on 27 June.
As well as being named the overall winners the team also triumphed in the Physiotherapy Placement and the Health Education England (Thames Valley) categories of the awards.
Gill Jones, MSK physiotherapy team lead, told Frontline: ‘We are fortunate to have an extremely dedicated team of experienced musculoskeletal physiotherapists who enjoy coaching and mentoring student physiotherapists on placement.
‘Our team frequently go above and beyond to deliver outstanding patient care and clinical placement experiences, and the awards are a fantastic recognition of these efforts.’
An excellent placement
Students at Oxford Brookes University nominated organisations for the awards, based on their experiences during placements.
More than 300 nominations were made and the MSK physios beat off competition from 12 other professions, including nursing, occupational therapy and social working departments.
Kristina Ilsley, a second year physiotherapy student at Oxford Brookes University, nominated the MSK team after completing a six-week placement with them in July 2016.
She told Frontline: ‘I loved this placement and learnt more than I could ever imagine. The team were very friendly and happy to help, teach and advise me. I had support when I needed it but was also left to be autonomous when appropriate, which helped my confidence grow.
‘I was involved with setting up group exercise classes and was given more responsibilities as the weeks progressed.
‘It was lovely to be part of a team that genuinely enjoy their job and help each other out. An excellent placement that I did not want to leave!’
The future is student
Trust physiotherapy service manager Elaine Arnott added: ‘Students are our future workforce so getting it right from the start through effective role modelling is so important. The award is recognition of their well-deserved efforts.’
Author: Robert Millett
Number of subscribers: 0
Log in to comment and read comments that have been added