I have been approached to share my unusual role as a children's physio and how PPIPS has been able to support me and other roles that paediatric physios practise in.
I have been a paediatric physio since 1977 and have been employed in the NHS for all of my career. However, the time came to retire in 2015, when I took up a volunteer role at Physionet. This is a charity that recycles redundant equipment, repairs and refurbishes it to send to low and middle income countries (LMICs). Included in this role is the need for training at the recipient end to help therapists to assess, fit, adjust and repair the items. Some items, as you know, are quite complex and largely novel in the country they end up in. Inevitably there are other areas of training that are requested once on site i.e. moving and handling, feeding, etc.
This new role required a slightly different type of professional support for example, how would I maintain standards in resuscitation, for example? I was happy then, to offer my backing to the establishment of PPIPS in 2016. It was a very interesting exploratory meeting held at the CSP offices, meeting other paediatric physios from a wide variety of work environments: independent schools, charities, equipment manufacturers, independent therapists, legal experts, individuals in higher and further education, sports therapists, trainers etc.
The work on PPIPS committee has been extremely varied and at times intense. Initially there were several networking events to connect therapists who did not have the benefit of work colleagues around them and felt rather isolated. These events helped them to air questions which would seem irrelevant to NHS colleagues. Of course, the wide scope of our membership gives us an equally wide scope of training subjects which can be a challenge in itself, to provide a rich variety of interest to all sectors. Many of these events have been of great interest to the whole APCP membership and we are glad to be relevant to all sectors.
So, back to my volunteering with Physionet, when working overseas I still need to maintain the same standards as is expected of me in the NHS but without its resources. PPIPS has enabled these needs to be met so I am able to be fully compliant with the CSP and HCPC standards. A one-stop-shop for “core training” but also a knack at “horizon scanning” for emerging interventions.
Another role of PPIPS has been to promote APCP to paediatric physios in low and middle income countries who are now offered a reduced membership. In these environments children with disabilities and long term conditions are largely poor and frequently hidden from society. Consequently this area of work is not attractive to paediatric physios because it is not funded except by charities. Because APCP has chosen to support those less fortunate than us in the UK, it has enabled overseas physios to be supported and aware of current practice. Then, because of the pandemic, access many webinars. What a silver lining!
If you or your department/ practice is interested in volunteering with www.physionet.org.uk or donating equipment, or have any questions, please contact me : hangilley@gmail.com