Salisbury therapists launch integrative working initiative

^{Therapy team members (left to right): physios Katharine Wilcocks, Cris Mulshaw, Gill Hibberd and Hollie Carpenter, occupational therapist Donna Gurd and physiotherapist Emily Scotney}

The initiative at Salisbury NHS Trust will see the development of integrated working between physiotherapists and occupational therapists at Salisbury District Hospital.

It is being run in partnership with Wessex School of Quality Improvement, part of NHS Health Education England. The organisation will provide training and coaching to the therapy team.

The project aims to

• standardise the quality of therapy provision
• maximise patients’ experience of therapy services
• improve patient flow by focusing on enhanced recovery, discharge management and therapy-led patient pathways of care

Cris Mulshaw, head of therapies at the trust, told Frontline: ‘This is a fantastic opportunity for therapy services at Salisbury to lead and influence change.

‘We are building on what we know works here and incorporating the best patient-centred elements of national projects such as the SAFER patient flow bundle [a standardised way of managing patient flow through hospitals].’

The team launched the project in January and aims to deliver outcomes by December 2017.

Author: Robert Millett