Physiotherapists 'can't get work'

[Guest guest]

Physiotherapists 'can't get work'

By Branwen s

Health correspondent, BBC News

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7200080.stm

NHS deficits have hit physiotherapy services

Half of all physiotherapists who graduated last year in England

cannot find jobs, according to a survey released to the BBC.

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy said the government should

act urgently to sort out the problem, as NHS money has paid for

their training.

In some parts of the country patients are waiting months to see a

physio.

The government admitted there was a problem, but said steps were

being taken to try to solve it.

The health service - which is responsible for funding training costs

of around £30,000 per graduate - adjusts the number of physios it

asks universities to train according to its workforce needs.

But in the last couple of years graduates have found themselves

frozen out of entry level jobs as the NHS has worked to get rid of

financial deficits.

The CSP sent a survey to the 2,126 physiotherapists who graduated in

2007.

" I'm worried after all these months that if I don't use them my

skills will deteriorate " , said Sayer, a Physiotherapy graduate

Of the 726 who responded only 184 had found a permanent NHS junior

post and another 191 were employed on short term contracts.

Overall, the CSP estimates 1,800 physiotherapists who have graduated

since 2005 have not been able to find work, potentially wasting the

£53m it cost to train them.

Now the NHS in England is forecasting a substantial surplus for this

financial year Phil Gray, CPS chief executive, wants the government

to employ the backlog of graduates in the health service.

He said: " We are calling on the government to put in a one-off

investment of £50m, compared to £53m of taxpayers' money which is

currently being wasted. "

Part-time work

Sayer is one of last year's physiotherapy graduates from the

University of Plymouth.

It is very frustrating because the work is out there, the patients

are waiting to be seen.

By now she hoped to be using her skills to look after patients in

the NHS.

Instead is working in a surf wear shop in the city, and is

about to start voluntary work on top of her job.

" I'm worried after all these months that if I don't use them my

skills will deteriorate: it's inevitable if I can't use them, " she

said.

is now pinning her hopes on a recently advertised NHS job in

Liskeard, but the competition is likely to be tough.

The University of Plymouth said its graduates have managed better

than the national average - with a little over half finding some

kind of physiotherapy job.

But that still leaves a significant minority chasing jobs.

Bernhard Haas is deputy head of the School for Health Professions at

the university. He set up the physio training programme to meet the

predicted demand from the NHS. Last year's graduates are the first

to finish training.

If they don't get jobs it will create a backlog - they will all be

chasing the same entry level posts. Mr Haas said: " It is very

frustrating because the work is out there, the patients are waiting

to be seen.

" Physiotherapists are key to rehabilitation, helping patients get

out of hospitals and back into their own homes. " A lack of

therapists will delay that. "

Strategic Health Authorities in England have set up talent pools

where graduates can register for information about jobs. But the CSP

said many graduates don't bother to register, and those that do

often receive little more than an acknowledgement. A Department of

Health spokesman accepted that there were problems, and said work

was being done to try to address them.

" There is more to be done to help existing physiotherapists to

progress their careers, thus creating vacancies for new qualifiers,

and improving access for graduates to opportunities across the wider

health and social care sectors.

" In some parts of country, such as West Yorkshire, newly qualified

physios are using their skills in new innovative roles, working as

community care officers for local authorities, helping to support

hospital discharge.

" This enables physios to carry on practising their skills when the

availability of posts in the NHS is very competitive. "