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Self-employed physios and small business owners have limited options when it comes to the fees insurers, or their intermediaries, are willing to pay. Most physios have to take what is on offer. There is no negotiation as the power in this market is entirely one sided. This is the real market abuse, not the prospect of physios seeking a fair deal from insurers. Seeking routes to change Many independent practitioner members want the CSP, as their union, to negotiate with insurers on their behalf, just as we do with employers. For many years we have advised this isn’t possible for legal reasons

The Scottish government's latest offer can be seen as a significant step forward that provides a solid pay rise for almost all members. It can also be acknowledged as below the current level of inflation for all but the lowest paid bands, and falling short of what we hoped for. Our job as the CSP pay sub-committee of members is to look at all the evidence – economic, industrial, political – and reach a conclusion as to whether or not the offer could be improved through further negotiations or, as a last resort, strike action. Having considered all that evidence, we believe this is an offer

Some of our nursing colleagues are due to go on strike 15 and 20 December. Other unions representing healthcare staff – including Unison, Unite and the GMB – have also announced the outcome of their industrial ballots, and have started to announce further December strike dates. If healthcare workers are taking industrial action in your employer, how can you show solidarity? Offering moral support is a good start. When you go into work, stop and talk to any staff on a picket line – discuss their cause and say you are with them. The CSP ballot in England and Wales will have closed when our RCN

Progress on rehab? On Wednesday Stephen Barclay set out his vision for the NHS in England. He highlighted an earlier announcement of £500million to address delayed discharge. Access to rehab helps people out of hospital, prevents readmission and improves quality of life. In his comments he specifically suggested that local bodies can use this funding to pay for physios to support people at home. The CSP has long argued for better community rehab services, and the inclusion of this is a sign that we are having traction within NHS England. It is a success for us and a good step in the right

The CSP is moving to an Industrial Action ballot in Scotland. Due to open in October, our elected Council will recommend members vote YES to take industrial action, to reject the Scottish government’s NHS pay offer of 5 per cent, which is already higher than the award in England and Wales for many of our members in higher bands. Council was only able to take decisive action in Scotland due to a high member turnout in our earlier, informal consultative survey. Over 60 per cent of our members voted in this ‘indicative vote’. 90 per cent rejected the offer, with 80 per cent saying they were

I want to take an opportunity to update where we are and what we will do in the future to ensure we don’t end up in the same place. For the latest HCPC renewal cycle ending in April 2022 the CSP were alerted to the fact that 5,311 physiotherapists had dropped off the HCPC register. Equating to around nine per cent of the registered physiotherapy population. At each renewal cycle as a profession we do have a drop of around 1,500 to 2,000 physiotherapists, but 5,311 was a significantly higher number than usual. After receiving these numbers we began to receive emails and telephone calls to our

In his presentation, Sajid Javid confirmed that digital is of huge importance to the health and social care sector and transformation in this area is critical to modernising services. He acknowledged that health and social care is currently following an unsustainable path and that it cannot continue like this, repeating a previous statement likening the NHS as “Blockbuster in the Netflix age”. He believes that digital transformation is the engine that will spearhead the change needed so we can better meet the public expectation, using the momentum gained in digital from the pandemic as the

Well what a joy to have spent a couple of days together face to face! To value the community of our physiotherapy profession. To experience that sense of belonging. I’ve missed this! The last few years have been very, very difficult for all of us and you, our members, have been at the forefront of dealing with the pandemic – I applaud and thank you. Our professional and personal lives have collided; we’ve put our resilience to the test and many of us have been ill and, tragically, lost loved ones. But as we come out of the Covid pandemic, I see and feel something even more pervasive than a

The 2022/23 specification , recently published in England, is part of the annual NHS GP Contract. It empowers general practice to improve the range of services it offers to its populations working in primary care networks (PCNs). Most FCPs in England are funded through the Additional Roles Reimbursement Scheme (ARRS). The contract sets out the detailed requirements for reimbursement of all staff contracted or recruited under the ARRS. It sets clear expectations around the level of practice and role of an MSK FCP, the embedding of FCP in primary care and access to appropriate supervision and

Because Covid is a new disease, research and analysis of real world data are ongoing. Learning is therefore evolving. Even more than with other areas of medical science, there is therefore a need to make a judgement based on the best information available and to trust virologists, immunologists and public health clinicians when they give opinions. This briefing brings together information from multiple sources to explain our policy perspective on Covid vaccination. It is not a scientific review of evidence but uses readily available information to evidence four key CSP statements. Covid is a