Lack of physio spaces is leading to longer hospital stays, Covid Inquiry hears

PATIENTS are staying in hospital longer due to physiotherapy facilities that were repurposed during the Covid-19 pandemic not being returned to use, an inquiry has heard.

Claire Ronald, a senior negotiating officer with the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, said gyms and other rehabilitation spaces in some hospitals are now being used for additional beds or storage, and some hydrotherapy pools closed during the pandemic have not reopened due to cost pressures.

Giving evidence to the Scottish Covid-19 Inquiry yesterday, the former physiotherapist said this risks costing more in the long run, as it results in patients having to spend longer in hospital.

She said: “If you want to improve patient flow through a hospital you need to look at how you’re rehabilitating them, and you need to have that investment in rehabilitation and have it meaningful.

“You’re not going to get patients out of hospital unless you improve their mobility, improve their function, and return as much of that mobility and function as possible, and that’s where physiotherapy is key and it’s where our rehabilitation spaces are also key.”

She added: “There’s no point having amazingly skilled physiotherapists trying to do a job at a bedside or trying to rehabilitate someone’s balance on an airflow mattress.”

Ms Ronald also told the inquiry that poor workforce planning means there are not enough graduates coming through to fill vacancies caused by increasing numbers of staff retiring early since the pandemic.

She said the stress caused by the pandemic, when many physiotherapists were deployed to Covid-19 wards and worked hands-on with Covid patients – with many struggling to obtain appropriate PPE – may have contributed to more staff opting to take early retirement.

The inquiry continues.