It’s no secret that physiotherapy is underutilised by healthcare systems across Europe despite having so much to offer as a service. The benefits of physiotherapy are widely known, ranging from pain management and elimination to reducing the need for surgery and dependency on medication, and much, much more.
Early intervention and pain management using physiotherapy are key to supporting and reducing pressure on overstretched healthcare systems – particularly in the wake of the pandemic – and even preventing admission to hospitals in the first place.
Of course delivery of physiotherapy services vary throughout Europe with self-referral being the norm in countries such as the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the UK. Self referral in primary care is the recommended approach by the National Institute of for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) and has been shown to:
- reduce waiting times
- give patients more control leading to a more independent life; and
- improve overall health outcomes by preventing long-term disability.
More than 200,000 falls could be avoided and save the National Health Service ￡275m
The UK National Health Service recently launched (8 February 2022) its electives recovery plan. Under the new plan, a list of reservist health workers, a network of 100 community diagnostic centres, and extra surgical hubs outside of major hospital settings will boost NHS capacity, address the backlog and empower patients.
In response to the announcement, Karen Middleton, Chief Executive of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) said ‘it is also important to recognise that surgery won’t be successful without providing patients with rehabilitation too’. She also called on the Government to ensure the role of physiotherapy is not overlooked at the risk of post-surgery readmissions and also to address the huge and continued demand for non-surgery related rehabilitation.
The CSP has been calling for better integration of physiotherapy into primary care across Europe for years and has previously reported that doing so would not only provide savings to the taxpayer and create efficiencies within healthcare systems, but also provide better patient care, better health outcomes and an overall better standard of living for millions of people.
While the CSP, NICE and other leading experts continue their call for physiotherapists to play a bigger and more crucial role in primary care, you can continue to provide the best care you can through self-referrals by ensuring you have the best equipment to support your patients in their pain management journey.
Not only are Dyaco Medical products robust, innovative and good value, our MED range is medically certified within the European directive. As well as providing a range of quality assurances, this enables free trade movement within the 32 European states and also allows for insurance reimbursement in countries where equipment must be medically certified.
