Your comments: 17 October 2018

Princess Royal joins Riding for the Disabled group founder for 50th anniversary

The Stratford-upon-Avon Riding for the Disabled (RDA) group welcomed the Princess Royal at its 50th anniversary celebrations.  As part of her visit this autumn, the princess joined physiotherapist Beryl Sainsbury, who formed the group in 1968, to watch riders give demonstrations.  

Mrs Sainsbury , now aged 97, received a vote of thanks from the princess for her decades of tireless work for the organisation. 

There were presentations, including the new Beryl Sainsbury Special Achievement Award. It went to Max Stainton, who began riding with the Stratford RDA group aged five. Earlier this year, at age 27, he became the first man with cerebral palsy to ride on horseback to base camp Everest, raising more than £60,000 for RDA UK. 

• Sue England

Exercise sheet solution

I am a recently qualified physiotherapist working with musculoskeletal (MSK) outpatients. I have noticed that in many outpatient departments clinicians do not have access to exercise sheets or tailored exercise programmes. This is because PhysioTools licences have been pulled. After reading a comment from Dave Lowen (Frontline 3 October), I offer a simple solution to this problem. There is a website, physiotherapyexercises.com, which is completely free to use. The exercises have visual guides with helpful teaching points, which have been created by physiotherapists in the UK and can be edited. 

For the record, I am not in any way involved with the website, but have used it many times.

• Matthew Sait

Overseas placements: be prepared

I read the editorial on students working in developing countries, The World is your Oyster (Frontline 5 September). 

As an experienced ESP and MSK practitioner, I worked in a developing country training physiotherapists. I know the challenges and dangers of going into such an environment unprepared. 

Daily, I came across conditions I’d never heard of, patients without a known diagnosis, or a misdiagnosis, who had serious conditions. I frequently had to debate with doctors to get the investigations and care my patients needed. I often felt out of my depth and poorly equipped – even after 15 years in the NHS.

In the NHS, physiotherapists are protected by the skilled professionals around us, access to diagnostic services and robust clinical governance. This is not the case in most developing countries, where it really is sink or swim. So, if you want to volunteer, you really do need to be properly prepared.

• Michael Jones