The physio workforce in numbers - our new influencing tool

The demand for an increasing physiotherapy profession has never been greater. As health and care sectors grapple with increasing population need, we know that having adequate physiotherapy staffing alleviates pressures faced by health systems. 

The CSP is committed to ensuring the physiotherapy workforce keeps step with this increased level of requirement.

This is a complicated task. Across the UK, the physiotherapy workforce landscape is shaped by different factors. There are varying educational funding systems and differing job market trends. In each nation and region, decision-makers are responding to local situations in distinct ways. 

It is essential that the CSP and its members have workforce data at our fingertips. Without comprehensive data, it is difficult to advocate for the changes we know are needed. 

The physiotherapy workforce data portal

Our new physiotherapy workforce data portal gives a snapshot of the current physiotherapy workforce across the UK. 

It brings together data about applications to physiotherapy courses, student numbers, graduate destinations and the active physiotherapy workforce.

The portal includes data from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), the Higher Education Statistics Agency, the Health and Care Professions Council and NHS staffing records from the four UK nations – along with data held by the CSP. 

It is the first time that data from all these sources is hosted together in one place. 

Growing the profession through influence

The physiotherapy workforce data portal will enable the CSP and its members to be more effective champions for the physiotherapy profession. 

Whether it is making the case to the Scottish government to increase undergraduate training places, or demonstrating to NHS England that there is a workforce pool ready to support its commitments to intermediate care and community rehabilitation, having ready access to the data will be vital.

The portal will also be useful to other organisations involved in advocating for much needed healthcare workforce improvements such as think tanks and members of the Community Rehabilitation Alliance across the UK. 

A workforce solution for the NHS 

The growing physiotherapy workforce is a solution for the NHS. The portal shows us that across the UK physiotherapy courses are extremely popular with many more applications than there are places.

In much of the UK, it also indicates that there has been healthy growth in the profession over a sustained number of years. Both are things that makes us different from other professions. 

Having this data in an easy-to-understand format makes it very clear where in the UK there is a problem of insufficient supply and where we are training enough physiotherapists to make a real difference over the next five years across all sectors. 

What’s next

The portal is an exciting tool that we can use to show the strengths of the physiotherapy workforce picture and where action needs to be taken. 

We are inviting CSP members to explore the portal and see how you can use it locally to influence decisions made about workforce planning. 

This is the first iteration of the workforce data portal, and we plan to make ongoing improvements to it, including increasing the level of detail in the data for different regions. Feedback is not only welcome, but essential, and can be sent to hodgsonh@csp.org.uk

Visit the physiotherapy workforce data portal.