‘’Physiotherapy Vague”

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30709, 26 March 1965, Page 1

‘’Physiotherapy Vague”

Methods of treatment in physiotherapy have changed so rapidly that most doctors have great difficulty in keeping up with advances, says a Health Department newsletter to doctors. The letter is signed by Drs. A. W. S. Thompson and T. L. Hayes, of the division of clinical services.

"Recommendations by doctors to a physiotherapist are sometimes as vague as ‘physiotherapy, please’,” says the newsletter. "To recommend ‘physiotherapy, please, for six weeks' without adequate diagnosis is rather like giving a patient a prescription for ‘drugs please; extended supply one

| month,’ and leaving further details to the dispensing : chemist. “If a doctor is not reasonably confident of his ability ito specify the physiotherapy likely to give maximum benefit to his patient, he should be honest with himself and consult a specialist in physical medicine or the physiotherapist. He should also do his best to make himself available to discuss the progress of the patient during a course of physiotherapy. “The Physiotherapy Benefits Regulations stipulate that doctors’ recommendations should ‘specify, in general or particular terms, the kind of treatment recommended, and shall also specify the period for which the treatment is recommended (being not longer . . . than six weeks)’ subject of course to renewal. Jn nractirp. in manv instanrpe

the maximum period of six [weeks is requested. This is reasonable in some cases, [but patient and therapist often agree that this duration is unnecessary, the course is curtailed, and occasionally embarrassment is avoided by omitting to notify the doctor. “Recommendation of the maximum period is unlikely to lead to abuse . . . but when a doctor can be more specific it helps to preserve the mana of the prescriber. The New Zealand Society of Physiotherapists is concerned about these matters because its members are bound ethically to treat patients only on the recommendation of a medical practitioner. The doctor should realise that the responsibility for treatment is his, and that there should be no delegation of any matter requiring professional direction or skill.”