Health informatics

The strategy will offer resources that will enable members to improve services and patient care.

The PHIS will include an expanded vision of how informatics can be embedded into physiotherapy, education modules that will support learning, and guidance on how members can apply informatics in practice. The strategy’s vision will describe how an informatics empowered profession can be delivered at an individual, organisation and national level. In addition, the vision will cover core elements of leadership, education and inclusion. In this article we provide an initial overview of the PHIS and hear from CSP staff and members about the importance of informatics, and how the strategy will be able to be used to support learning, upskill the physiotherapy workforce and improve services. We also take a look at how the five-year strategy (2022-2027) could benefit members in different roles and stages of their careers, such as physiotherapy students, private practitioners and service managers.

Living the vision

Over the five years of the PHIS, technology will continue to develop and offer opportunities for practice that may not be immediately apparent. These personas show how successful implementation of the PHIS may enhance both physiotherapy skills and career development.

Taylor the student

Taylor in 2022: Taylor is in the third year of their BSc degree in physiotherapy. For their fourth placement they had a combined clinical/leadership setting involving a new simulation suite to support teaching respiratory techniques for staff on ITU and acute respiratory wards. Taylor worked three days a week clinically, and two days producing a report on simulated learning for physiotherapy students. Taylor is now writing their dissertation on the experiences of physiotherapy students of simulated learning. 

Taylor in 2027: Taylor is now a band 6 physiotherapist in respiratory care. After graduating they worked through the PHIS education modules which developed their interest in informatics. Using skills and interests gained from their placement, and the education modules, they are working on a service improvement project to evaluate apps used within treatment programmes. They are using Quality Improvement methodology to establish the user satisfaction of the apps, using small focus groups, and feedback data from people who have used the app. Following their project completion, Taylor hopes to present their findings to the department manager. Current results suggest that patients and clinicians find the apps beneficial, and Taylor would like to bid for funding to buy tablets for patients to use the apps alongside in-person physiotherapy. 

Mahsa the private physio

Mahsa in 2022: Mahsa runs a private physiotherapy clinic. She is keen to expand the services she offers to patients, to make her clinic more attractive to new clients, and provide best treatment and outcomes. She has trialled a new technological device, which offers real-time biomechanical assessment and video feedback, to support diagnosis and treatment. It has the capability to produce reports which can be emailed to patients to support them to track and monitor progress. She is exploring the potential of virtual reality interventions to optimise exercise compliance. 

Mahsa in 2027: Mahsa invested in the new device and has seen her practice grow as people have specifically asked for assessment using real-time biomechanics. With developments in technology, Mahsa is now able to offer this assessment remotely or in person, depending on patient choice. Patients can download their reports onto an app, which has interoperability with a local gym, so they can log their progress with independent or supported exercises. Mahsa has expanded her service to include joint biomechanical assessments with a podiatrist to offer integrated advice and treatment. She has gathered treatment outcome data, and patient satisfaction feedback which has shown better rehabilitation outcomes and experiences for patients. Mahsa has presented her findings to a regional physiotherapy conference and is planning to write an article for her professional network journal.

David the service manager

David in 2022: David manages a large therapy team in a community trust. He has been in the role for seven years, and over this time workforce planning and recruitment have been a challenge. As part of wider service improvements, David has begun a workforce planning project, using data modelling from electronic staff records. He is looking at referral data for community services and reviewing the patient and staff data to look at expanding roles in community services to include assistant practitioners. To support with his own development, David signed up to the CSP’s mentor scheme and joined the Digital Informatics and Physiotherapy Group (DIPG). 

David in 2027: Through the DIPG David met a physiotherapist working as a chief clinical information officer, who became David’s mentor and supported him to learn more about career options in informatics. David was supported by his manager to attend courses through the NHS Digital Academy. He also developed his learning by becoming a Caldicott Guardian within the trust and set up a local digital and informatics group to share ideas and information. Six months ago, David successfully applied for the newly created role of chief allied health information officer (CAHIO). He is enjoying the challenge of a new position, and an opportunity to use skills learned in physiotherapy and informatics to support clinicians and teams to deliver more efficient integrated services.

Sam the CAHIO

Sam in 2022: Sam is working as a CAHIO in a large NHS trust. They are leading AHPs in their organisation through the implementation of a new electronic health record, utilising new devices, and using informatics to support multiple quality improvement and research projects. They are building peer networks to support project delivery and to act as a conduit between the clinical workforce, technical workforce, and leadership team. They are also involved in networks with other similar posts across the UK to support their own CPD. They are in the NHS Digital Academy and enjoying exposure to multi-professional informatics-specific learning. 

Sam in 2027: Sam is now the informatics lead within the national AHP team using their expert knowledge, skills, and experience to drive system-level change. They are working to deliver national policy and strategy in the use of informatics, embedding informatics in the curriculum for multiple professions, and mentoring others through their informatics career. They collaborate on and publish health informatics research and contribute to multiple conferences, events and government think tanks. 

How practising clinicians can use informatics in practice

Emma and Charlie Park are physiotherapists based in Northern Ireland. 

Emma Park is a specialist orthopaedic physiotherapist at the Royal Victoria Hospital fracture clinic in Belfast and Charlie Park is a clinical lead physiotherapist at IPRS Health. 

‘Digital is a crucial part of our offer for nationwide physiotherapy,’ says Charlie. ‘Where it meets the clinical need and the patient preferences it can prove a vital adjunct to IPRS services.’ Emma, speaking about the role informatics play at the Royal Victoria Hospital, says: ‘We’ve adapted our physio-led fracture clinics to allow the patient and therapist together to choose the most appropriate medium for each appointment whether that’s telephone, video, or in person.

‘This allows patients who are appropriate, to receive healthcare advice following a simple fracture in the comfort of their home without having to worry about the various logistics involved in attending an appointment in a busy acute setting.

‘Digital consultations can reduce stress for the patient, reduce time off work for patients and carers (most fracture patients cannot drive) and reduce pressure on fracture clinic waiting areas and hospital parking. 

‘Equally patients who prefer face to face or who need further imaging can access it quickly as we have available capacity on a daily basis. We are always looking for ways to use technology to advance our practice. We are currently working on an interactive skeleton poster using QR codes to link patients to relevant information about their fracture.’ 

Together, Charlie and Emma also run a growing practice in Helen’s Bay. Commenting on this venture, Charlie explains that:

‘Technology is also a useful part of the services we offer. We use an app to support our patients remotely and have had excellent reviews from patients’. 

Emma agrees, adding that they are using technology in different ways to improve the services they provide. ‘We’ve opted to use a booking app on our website to reduce admin time, which allows patients to book an appointment at a time that suits them. We’ve also found that using exercise prescription software via an app with instant messaging helps to engage patients with their recovery.

‘We are looking forward to using PHIS as a launchpad to even better use of informatics in our practice.’