E048 A review of published data on reported staffing ratios for rheumatology specialist physiotherapists in rheumatology departments
Authors: Gregory William J 
Published: April 2023

Background/Aims

The NHS England Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) Rheumatology Report published in 2021 identified that Rheumatology departments in England were not getting best use of the multidisciplinary skills mix of their teams and that this expertise could be harnessed to address capacity challenges, optimise services and increase service resilience and sustainability. The British Society for Rheumatology (BSR) Workforce Report, published the same year, suggests that services require approximately one Rheumatology Consultant per 60,000-80,000 population and a one-to-one ratio of Rheumatology Specialist Nurses to Consultants. There were no suggestions in either report for Allied Health Professionals' staffing levels.

Data presented in the BSR Report show that 50% of UK departments do not have a physiotherapist embedded in their multi-disciplinary team, and 7% of Trusts reported not having access to physiotherapy services.

The aim of this project was to review published data on ratios of Rheumatology Specialist Physiotherapists per 100,000 population and to estimate current ratios of Rheumatology Specialist Physiotherapists per Consultant Rheumatologist in UK rheumatology services.

Methods

A literature review was undertaken, date range 2012-2022, on UK rheumatology staffing ratios for physiotherapists including full papers and abstracts. In addition, the BSR Workforce Report data on the average UK rheumatology department Whole Time Equivalent (WTE) staffing was used to calculate current average ratio of rheumatology physiotherapists to 100,000 population.

Results

Review of published literature identified one full paper and two conference abstracts. A cross-sectional study in 2017 found an average adjusted mean WTE of 0.3 per 100,000 population. The raw data from published conference abstracts on a repeated survey, in 2017 and 2021, of north-west England Rheumatology Specialist Physiotherapists was reviewed and calculated to show 0.34 and 0.32 WTE respectively for rheumatology physiotherapy per 100,000 population.

Analysis of the BSR Workforce Report shows that the current UK average is 0.27 Rheumatology Specialist Physiotherapists per 100,000 population. These BSR data equate to 1 WTE Rheumatology Specialist Physiotherapist for every 5.25 WTE Rheumatology Consultants. Or for every full-time Rheumatologist, a requirement of approximately 1 day per week of rheumatology physiotherapy provision. The data from the three sets of survey data found on literature review, with an average of 0.32 WTE per 100,000 population, equate to 1 WTE rheumatology physiotherapist for every 4.5WTE rheumatology consultants.

Conclusion

Despite the established wide variation in staffing ratios with regard to multi-disciplinary teams in Rheumatology and a dearth of published information, the data that are available show a remarkable consistency in reported current Rheumatology Specialist Physiotherapist staffing ratios. These data are from surveys of current provision and do not replace evidence-based recommendations, which are still very much required as well as a standard for commissioning as part of an essential package in high-quality service provision.

Disclosure

W.J. Gregory: None.