Professional Issues Working Group

List of Committee Members
Introduction

The main objectives of the Professional Issues working group are:
  • Consider issues relating to Extended Scope of Practice for the Physiotherapy Profession and
  • Evidence Based Practice in Europe and consider proposals.
Activities

Activities recommended by the Professional Issues WG for the period 2012 – 2014
Approved by the 2012 GM

 
Active Points (1 – 5)

1. Clinical Guidelines and Multidisciplinary Guidelines:

·      To continue collaboration in Clinical Guideline development, collecting the evidence, dissemination and implementation

·      To maintain involvement with GIN 

·      To hold a 3rd Conference on Clinical Guidelines in 2014. Focus on implementation; this may be organised with other health professionals, politicians and patient’s organisations.

·      To keep the clinical and multidisciplinary guidelines database updated every year

2. Promote the role and position of physiotherapists in the ER-WCPT.

·      Evidence Based good Practice promotion statements (Collaboration in development of promotion statements based on evidence based practice)

·      Promote the role of Physiotherapists as first contact practitioners

·      Physical means versus operative techniques

·      To map good examples & to include recommendations from the discussion session

3. To promote the Briefing paper - Active and Healthy, the role of the Physical Therapist in Physical Activity and emphasise the value of the physiotherapists’ involvement in health promotion and disease prevention. To update as require this file.

4. To follow developments of the use of volunteer workers and their impact on health care employment (in collaboration with the EU Matters WG)

5. To explore the feasibility of holding an Advancing scope of practice conference and its impact.

Collaborate – Internal (6 – 7)

6. With the Education Matters WG

·    Follow up the Continuous Professional Development activity within the Member Organisations, in the work place and continue to monitor developments in re-registration, re-certification and develop a framework that all MO’s can relate to.

7. With the EU Matters WG on responses to EU legislation to the profession of Physiotherapy and the users of its services.

Collaborate – External (8 – 9)

8. With the European Forum for Primary Care
9. With the Fit for Work Europe Coalition

To monitor (10 – 14)

10. The relationship and involvement of ER-WCPT MOs with Trade Unions

·    The next step is to find out about the situation in the countries of the MOs who did not complete the survey. Also to ascertain if there would be any advantage in view of the fact that so many MOs alliances with unions are in turn aligned to the same European wide Trade Union network. There is a need to explore the possibility of improving some relationships and possibly standardising different rules of engagement for the benefit of the individual MOs.

11. The effect of the role of insurance companies on ER-WCPT MOs and the provision of Physiotherapy

12. Observe Employment issues and their impact on the profession

13. To be a point of contact for MOs regarding professional Issues

14. The activities of European Health organisations relevant to professional issues of the ER-WCPT