Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

It is a pleasure to welcome the Minister. He has been invited here to discuss the important issue of physiotherapists and physical therapists. He is already familiar with the current situation regarding physiotherapists and physical therapists, having addressed the relevant committee on the matter and answered parliamentary questions relating to it in the Dáil. We are joined in the Visitors Gallery by the CEO and president of the Irish Society Of Chartered Physiotherapists, ISCP, and a physiotherapist with a large practice who employs both physiotherapists and physical therapists. We hope this issue has been progressed by the Minister and his Department and that he is here to give us some good news. We hope that, having reviewed the case made by the ISCP, he will agree in the interests of patient safety to protect the titles of physiotherapist and physical therapist in one register for use by the physiotherapy profession.

There is a great deal of confusion among members of the public about the role of physiotherapists and physical therapists and their respective places in the medical profession. From my experience, people are now using the terms interchangeably without any real awareness of the significant difference in training and approach. The public is not to be blamed for this as the terms "physiotherapist" and "physical therapist" mean the same thing in many other jurisdictions.In fact, in the rest of the world the titles of physical therapist and physiotherapist are protected in law, used only by members of the physiotherapy profession and they mean the same. In Ireland, in the absence of regulation, the titles of physiotherapist and physical therapist can be used by any person. Members of the public are naturally confused when deciding from whom to seek treatment. Where there is confusion and a real risk to public safety. The Physiotherapists Registration Board, which includes a majority of lay people and is charged with protecting the public, has already brought a recommendation to the Minister to the effect that both titles should be protected in one register. If the titles are not protected in one register for use by physiotherapists, I believe the level of public confusion will not only continue, but will increase.

Since the Minister is a doctor, I imagine he will be more than aware of the type, level and duration of training that physiotherapists undergo. Irish-educated physiotherapists and those educated abroad with equivalent qualifications are health professionals educated to provide care in the core areas of musculoskeletal, cardiorespiratory and neurological treatment. People currently trained in physical therapy in Ireland are not educated to this level. Their training may include some techniques used by physiotherapists to treat musculoskeletal injuries but they do not receive any training in cardiorespiratory or neurological diagnosis or treatment.

Physical therapist courses in Ireland are run on a part-time basis at weekends for anything from six months to 15 months to three years. The highest qualification is a level 7 degree in applied health science; it is not a degree in physical therapy. It is of a lower standard and has a different course content to Irish degrees in physiotherapy, which are all level 8 qualifications and four-year full-time courses in universities. In addition, physiotherapy students receive a minimum of 1,000 hours supervised clinical placement in public hospitals and primary care centres.

The counterargument has been made that this is about protecting physiotherapists' patch from competition. Nothing could be further from the truth. This is about high standards and excellence in diagnostics and treatment. The Irish Society of Chartered Physiotherapists recommends that when both titles are protected, any established physical therapist should be offered the opportunity to undergo further training and upskilling. We also need to re-educate the public to the fact that physiotherapists are experts in many well-established specialty areas, such as orthopaedics, paediatrics, cardiorespiratory, care of the elderly, neurology, rheumatology, musculoskeletal, sports medicine and women's health. The list is extensive. The remit of the physiotherapist is broad and comes with immense responsibility, a responsibility that we need to acknowledge and respect. I would not like to think there is an accident waiting to happen or that a person who believes he is being treated by a highly-skilled professional is being treated by someone who, while very competent within a particular sphere, is not trained to make what can be life-saving diagnostic decisions. I thank the Minister for his time and I look forward to his reply.