Demographics and scope of Australian emergency department physiotherapists

Questions: To provide workforce data on the status of Australian Emergency Department (ED) physiotherapy practice, including physiotherapist demographic data, staffing levels and funding sources. Evaluate the scope of practice currently undertaken by ED physiotherapists and alignment of ED physiotherapy service provision with demand levels.

Design: Cross sectional survey.

Participants: Australian physiotherapists working within an Australian ED.

Outcome measures: Workforce data, scope of practice and alignment of physiotherapy service provision to ED presentations and demand.

Results: 94 Australian ED physiotherapists completed the survey, 76.9% were working as primary contact clinicians. They had a diverse scope of practice, 100% perform mobility assessments, 89.9% provide care for paediatric patients and 10.1% were involved in administration of medications. 86.2% of participants (75/87) reported working within a service model that provided seven-day per week physiotherapy coverage to ED.

Conclusion: The sample of ED physiotherapists were found to be experienced and highly trained clinicians with a diverse scope of practice, who are well placed to meet the unpredictable and highly variable patient caseload of Australian EDs.