Innovation
Innovation is a key ethos at Surrey Physio, and we encourage all of our team (both administrative and therapy teams) to be innovative and forward-thinking in their approach to patient care.
Surrey Physio Innovation Fund
Inspired by the NHS England Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, in 2019 we started an annual grant programme of £5000 to encourage our staff to become more involved in innovative or digital technologies. We opened this for administrators and therapists, acknowledging that anyone can have a good idea on how to improve patient care, make our clinic more efficient, or achieve better outcomes.
One of the projects our team is currently working on is videoing 180 orthopaedic tests, reviewing them and rating them according to evidence and usefulness in a physiotherapy practice. We identified a problem being the confusion over when, why and how to use orthopaedic tests, and which ones were relevant or useful to clinical practice. The solution we identified would be to review and research 180 commonly used tests, looking at the original research papers or books to find the test, and reviewing more modern research papers looking at the validity of these tests. This has served an invaluable upskilling process for the physiotherapists and osteopaths involved, as well as providing continuing professional development via in-service training for those not directly involved. Peter, Will, Kay, and Tim were all involved in that project. The next stage will be to share the findings with the wider physiotherapy profession via social media.
We also welcome innovative ideas from patients. We have feedback forms at our clinics and online where you can write down any ideas that you have about innovation or anything we can do to improve patient care or practice efficiency. We listen to your feedback and take all requests seriously.