I’m often asked by customers and by our professional colleagues in occupational health whether a physiotherapist who is trained in good musculoskeletal skills is qualified to work in the occupational health environment?
The answer is yes any Chartered Physiotherapist as able to do occupational health work, if you are only looking for a treatment or rehabilitation service. However, if the company requires an occupational health service where they are seeking advice on what an employee is capable of doing, what reasonable adaptions can be made at work to accommodate the worker, and to place in the report within the legal framework of occupational health law then I would suggest that the answer to this question is no.
Traditionally occupational health departments been structured in a way that an occupational health nurse manages the occupational health elements of the case and the physio does the treatment. At Sun Rehabilitation we feel this is a massive duplication of effort, and would it not be better for a chartered physiotherapist trained in occupational health skills to streamline this process and significantly reduce the costs of the advice and intervention. The occupational health physiotherapist is also able to engage with the workplace to offer a clinically driven view of the capabilities of an employee, and as the pathway to recovery moves forward amend the temporary adjustments towards a full upstanding role that the employee can engage in without unnecessary pain or discomfort.
In this way we can deliver occupational health with savings as high as for every 1 pound invested we can demonstrate up to £19 return on our service delivery.
Would always recommend therefore that when you seek a musculoskeletal occupational health provision a registered occupational health chartered physiotherapists or work into this qualification is engaged, and you might also ask whether the business would be supplying work is SEQOHS registered for their physiotherapy work, or just their Doctor and nurse provision.
If you would like to know more please do not hesitate to contact me. I welcome all your comments and enquiries.