Your comments: 1 February 2017

There seemed to be a contradiction in reports from a conference in Oxford on pages 10-11, 7 December. Karen Barker said that all physios should carry out research as part of their jobs, while Sallie Lamb told delegates that many small, low quality trials add to the poor quality of research and so compounds the problem of producing flawed evidence. However, the reports highlight the need to find ways to implement research/evidence into clinical practice. This is, of course, very difficult – the status quo has always been hard to break.  

 

As a way forward, I suggest that every time we make a decision around patients (on such aspects as diagnosis, prognosis, treatment) we write down the research/evidence that underpins that decision. Could this be a simple way forward to challenge the status quo and help to close the gap between evidence and implementation?

 

I write in response to the comments by Kathryn Priest that appeared on page 4, 4 January. I understand exactly where Kathryn is coming from. 

 

I was also a mature physiotherapy student, having qualified as a diagnostic radiographer 12 years earlier, holding a sports science degree as well as doing a PhD in low back pain and spinal shrinkage. 

 

Although I already knew that I wanted to focus more on musculoskeletal (MSK), on qualification I found that going through the conventional rotation system invaluable. Perhaps not so much the respiratory element, but definitely the neurological rotations. 

 

This, in particular, helped me understand much better the occasional neurological conditions that masquerade as MSK. I don’t think this knowledge can be fully appreciated just by working alongside other MSK practitioners. 

 

I would fully encourage new graduates to get as much patient mileage under their belts as possible, particularly in neurology and MSK, before embarking on a career in private practice.

 

The CSP Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Network (LGBT) has changed its name to LGBT+. The plus (+) ensures that we are inclusive of all identities.

 

The CSP LGBT+ network wants to ensure that everyone is welcomed, and that no one is excluded. Society is seeing increasing ways in how people define themselves, including pangendered, intersex, questioning, queer gendered, asexual and pansexual.

 

Everyone is welcome, including straight allies, and our new name supports this.

 

The network meets formally twice a year and is also represented at the CSP Annual Representative Conference, to be held this year in  Manchester in March. 

 

It is also represented at the TUC LGBT conference. We are proud to represent the CSP at London Pride. We utilise iCSP, social media and WhatsApp to communicate and provide peer support in between meetings.

 

Please join us today via the CSP website www.csp.org.uk/equalitynetworks