The Covid-19 rehabilitation standards lay out the key principles of delivering physiotherapy within a multidisciplinary care context. They are key for facilitating safe and rapid decision making and ensuring the delivery of consistent, high quality, personalised assessment and physiotherapy.
The standards should be used in conjunction with local policies and procedures. Service leads and the physiotherapy workforce are the key audience.
The standards are underpinned by national guidance and standards, in particular by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), government and profession-specific guidance on Covid-19. Covid-19 is a new condition with an emerging evidence base.
The standards draw on available evidence, expert opinion and the lived experiences of people with Long Covid.
We will review and update the standards as the knowledge base and expert experience develop.
Standards for rehabilitation of adults hospitalised due to acute Covid-19 or Long Covid
These standards cover rehabilitation for adults who are admitted to hospital with Covid-19. This encompasses people with acute Covid-19 or long Covid.
The standards apply to rehabilitation for any episode of care in a hospital setting through to step-down rehabilitation facilities and/or ongoing rehabilitation in the community.
This includes people who were not admitted to hospital during the acute stage of Covid-19 infection and readmission of people who were hospitalised due to acute Covid-19.
Standards for palliative rehabilitation and end-of-life care
These standards are relevant for all care settings and cover rehabilitation and physiotherapy for people with Covid-19 who are approaching the end of their life.
This includes people who are likely to die from Covid-19 and people with Covid-19 who have advanced, progressive, incurable conditions or life-threatening acute conditions.
The standards also cover support for their families and carers.
Standards for community rehabilitation for anyone has or has had Covid-19
The standards are relevant to any adult with rehabilitation needs who has acute Covid-19 or Long Covid, and their families and carers. This is whether their care is managed in community settings throughout or if they were admitted to hospital at any stage.
