Championing Physiotherapy

External influencing

We used our relationships with partners and worked within broader alliances to influence around a number of issues, particularly those related to building the physiotherapy workforce. 

• With support from our partners in the Cavendish Coalition, we ensured physiotherapy was added to the shortage occupation list after lobbying the Migration Advisory Committee, making it easier for overseas national physios to get visas and less bureaucratic for employers.
• We led a coalition of 13 allied health professions (AHPs) professional bodies and trade union partners to agree a consensus statement on the need to strengthen the career opportunities for and value placed on the AHP non-registered workforce. This resulted in Health Education England (HEE) developing a career development framework for the AHP support workers to support access to apprenticeships and drive growth and development of AHP support worker workforce in England. 

Strengthening the profession’s reputation

During 2021, as part of the CSP’s objective to advocate for the profession to key stakeholders including policymakers, AHPs, other clinicians and the general public, we worked to achieve positive coverage of physiotherapy across a range of media. 

• Several physios, including Lisa Osborn-Jenkins, Caroline Appel and Uzo Ehiogu, gave advice on how to regain muscle lost during lockdown in an article on the BBC website.
• Kate Lough from Pelvic Obstetric and Gynaecological Physiotherapy (POGP) gave advice on pelvic health exercises to the Press Association, picked up worldwide.
• CSP members discussed their role in the pandemic and we stated our call for a national rehab strategy through the BBC. 
• CSP chief executive Karen Middleton spoke out when an expected announcement on NHS pay was abruptly shelved in July 2021. 

Community rehabilitation

We continued to raise the profile of rehabilitation in the national media, especially in the context of deconditioning of the population during the Covid-19 pandemic, and used our position as leader of a movement to push for national commitments to rehab across the UK’s four nations. 

• We influenced HEE for community focused credentials and funded advanced practitioner opportunities.
• We built relationships with key stakeholders, such as the British Heart Foundation, British Lung Foundation and the Stroke Association, who are building their approaches to rehabilitation incorporating multiple conditions.
• Secured a pilot of an integrated community rehab offer, backed by the Royal College of GPs and the British Medical Association.
• Led and hosted the Community Rehab Alliance (CRA) of more than 60 organisations drawn from across the UK.

Building a thriving physiotherapy community 

Despite the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic continuing to be felt, the CSP’s membership grew by almost four per cent in 2021, reaching a record total of more than 63,000 members by the end of the year. 

Alongside this growth, we saw a small but positive change in the diversity of our membership, in terms of ethnicity, disability and sexual orientation.

To continue building our community, we offered 12 months of free membership to graduating students, recognising the importance of continued connection while they search for their first practising role.

We also launched international affiliate membership to extend our community to overseas qualified physiotherapists and physiotherapy students, who are looking to relocate to the UK, or just wanting to build a more international network.

In development of a more active and representative physiotherapy community, we completed a 12 month review into our engagement with members. This resulted in a new strategic approach to engagement and a revised model of relationships with our different types of member network.

Virtual events

With the Covid-19 pandemic still having a significant impact on the operation of in-person events in 2021, the CSP’s offering of virtual events continued to broaden. 

For the second year running, the CSP ran Physiotherapy UK through an online virtual platform. We welcomed over a thousand delegates to the conference, and received 374 abstract submissions, the highest number ever.   

The East of England regional network offered a series of webinars focusing on support workers, celebrating their contribution and to explore ways to tackle continuing challenges posed by the pandemic. 

The South West regional network organised a half-day virtual event with a special focus on community rehabilitation.

Promoting preventative health 

In March we published the ‘Strength Messaging Insight Project’, funded by Sport England and the Centre for Ageing Better. The report detailed the findings of a year-long series of interviews, focus groups and other interactions with people living with long-term conditions about their perceptions, barriers and motivations when it came to strengthening.

It also included recommendations from a similar process with physiotherapy staff about what would encourage them to talk more to patients about the benefits of strengthening. Sport England subsequently funded a second phase of the project to put the findings of the insight report into practice – in what would become Stronger My Way.

Promoting preventative health

In March we published the ‘Strength Messaging Insight Project’, funded by Sport England and the Centre for Ageing Better. The report detailed the findings of a year-long series of interviews, focus groups and other interactions with people living with long-term conditions about their perceptions, barriers and motivations when it came to strengthening.

It also included recommendations from a similar process with physiotherapy staff about what would encourage them to talk more to patients about the benefits of strengthening.

Sport England subsequently funded a second phase of the project to put the findings of the insight report into practice – in what would become Stronger My Way.