The year reviewed

I had always known that to really gain an understanding of the CSP I would need to allow myself my first year to feel the ‘rhythm’ of the organisation. As an incoming chief executive, I have always prioritised listening and learning during the start of my tenure. 

This has been invaluable, and I feel very settled in my role and assured in my understanding of what we have achieved and where our ambition is directing us. I want to thank all of you and all of my colleagues for allowing me this time to get comfortable and to give me a clear view of how to lead a new phase for the society. 

Annual cycles are common, and I can safely say that the last quarter has been a busy and focused one. During this time, we seek to assess the impact we have had in the last year and to determine the priorities for the next year. 

I can confidently say that this has been another successful year for the CSP. We remain fiscally strong, compliant with all regulations, have kept members are the centre of everything we do, and we continue to drive change and improvement through all of our operations. 

I have been working hard and travelling far and wide over the last 12 months to connect with members and to gain personal insight into the challenges you are facing. 

We are influencing decision-makers, policymakers and healthcare leaders on your behalf, and we are focussing that influence on the priorities that we feel will enable physiotherapy and our members to flourish and play their parts in key systems, agendas and thinking. 

I am pleased to see the pay changes in England, Wales and Scotland but remain concerned about the delay in reaching a decision on pay in Northern Ireland. Please be assured that we are central to negotiations with the assembly, and we will continue to drive for speedy resolution. 

Working with CSP Council

I am feeling enthusiastic having welcomed seven new council members to the CSP following an election earlier this year.

I have very much enjoyed our initial conversations and development sessions together. As a member-organisation led through the council, it is essential that we prioritise coming together in the most productive way for us to attend to the priorities and strategy for our members. 

Our new chair Sylvia Wojciechowski and I have already developed a very effective relationship, having been working together for almost a year. 

We both share an ambition to reach out to members and we are working to develop activities where we can best engage with you. We are both passionate about hearing from you and I would encourage you to reach out directly to us with the issues you wish us to consider and address. 

We are also focussing on what we heard from you at ARC in June and we will be reverting to you in relation to motions in the new year. 

Event of the year

I had the great pleasure of experiencing my first CSP Annual Conference in Manchester in October. It was an inspiring event, and I found myself immersed in great conversations and witnessing the impressive research and thinking that is going on in the profession, whilst connecting with a range of members and stakeholders on the agendas that are important to the profession. 

The CSP’s team pulled off a great success and I have an aspiration for this to continue and to grow in the next planned conferences for 2025 and beyond. As a UK-wide organisation we have an ambition to bring the conference to each of the four countries to ensure we combine a sense of localism with the wider aim of bringing our community together in a spirit of collaboration, collectiveness and learning. 

The conference in 2025 will take part in Newport in Wales and we will be working with colleagues to build a programme that inspires contribution and participation. I very much look forward to welcoming you next October.

Political change

There has been significant political changes in 2024 across the world, including the first Labour government in many years. 

Throughout the election campaign we had a key influencing presence, and this has led to rehabilitation, NHS pay and the contribution of AHPs to the emerging agendas being prominent in the manifestos and early activity. 

A notable development is the consultation to design the government’s 10 Year Health Plan. 

This will focus on three areas: care moving from hospital to the community; moving from analogue systems to digital solutions; and emphasising prevention over sickness. There is simply no doubt that physiotherapy is perfectly positioned to play an important role in making these ambitions a reality. 

As I hope you will have seen, a broad-ranging consultation on the 10-year plan is now open until the 2 December and we need all of our members, your families and your wider networks to contribute your thoughts and views to this.

The CSP, of course, is formulating a response on behalf of members. Key officials, including health and social care secretary Wes Streeting and chief allied health professions officer Suzanne Rastrick, are clear that they are seeking the views of individuals as much as their representative bodies.

The portal for comments, suggestions and responses to others’ inputs is open at change NHS UK. I am directly asking you to get involved in this process of opinion-gathering. Subsequent to the consultation, the government will establish 11 working groups to consider various aspects of the emerging plan. 

The first four of these will consider the future vision and they will be developed on the following themes:

• I can stay healthy and manage my health in a way that works for me.
• I can access the high-quality and effective care I need, when and where I need it.
• My care is integrated around my needs, and I am listened to.
• I am treated in a fair and inclusive way, irrespective of who I am.
   

I am pleased to see equity prevailing and we must continue to influence the thinking of these groups, determine their work plans and play our part in the design of effective working systems that address the real and apparent health inequalities. We will keep you up to date with this work but please do use your individual and collective influencing to stay connected and involved during this important vision-setting process. During the past year, I have heard of the struggles many of you are facing working in the NHS. We want to help ensure the NHS is fit for purpose and thriving for future generations, doing all it can to support the health of everyone.

Looking ahead with hope

As we come to the end of the year, and indeed my own first year, I feel buoyant and full of energy and I feel a real sense of ambition in the organisation. We approach next year with a range of priorities which include influencing the NHS plan; remaining prominent and engaged about NHS workforce reform; increasing engagement with members; developing further the relationships with our professional networks and our volunteers in representative and governance roles; and continuing to develop our digital platforms to enhance your member experience. 

I hope that you can take time to enjoy the various religious and cultural festivals and celebrate all you have individually and collectively achieved in 2024. I am hugely grateful for all of you who contribute to the success of your professional body, and I know that in 2025 we will continue to represent you and collaborate on the issues that matter the most.