Background: Worldwide, emergency department (ED) attendances and admissions to acute care have increased significantly. Many EDs are adding physiotherapists to their team thereby allowing doctors to see more cases that are 'urgent'. This is a move away from the 'traditional' physiotherapy service whereby the ED team refers patients to an outpatient physiotherapy service sometimes resulting in significant delays. Internationally, there is no agreed consensus on the role or value of ED-based physiotherapists. Aim: The objective of this review was to retrieve, critically appraise and synthesise the evidence from studies relating to patients' and healthcare professionals' experiences and/or perceptions of physiotherapy services in the ED. Method: This is a systematic review (SR) synthesising qualitative studies, which have considered patients' (population 1) and healthcare professionals' (population 2) experiences and/or perceptions (outcomes) of ED physiotherapy services (exposure). A comprehensive systematic search, limited to English language articles, was undertaken on seven electronic medical databases (Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, BNI, PubMed and PEDro) for the period January 2006 to October 2016. Grey literature was identified using Google Scholar, reference lists and website searching. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) qualitative checklist was used to appraise all included studies. All studies were data extracted and quality appraised by two reviewers to enhance rigour and reduce bias. Results: A total of 2163 studies were screened, 10 received full-text review and 7 studies were included in the final review. Six of the studies originated in Australia and one from the USA. The themes that emerged were as follows: Patients and healthcare professionals view ED-based physiotherapists as having (1) expert clinical skills and (2) an educational role. There is role confusion and lack of integration of the ED-based physiotherapist within the ED team. Conclusion: This review adds an in-depth human perspective to the current ED physiotherapy literature, which provides insight into how ED healthcare services and physiotherapy services specifically should be developed and delivered in the future. The knowledge from this review has implications for future education programmes, as well as development of both new care pathways and physiotherapy clinical roles. Research into ED-based physiotherapy services is predominantly quantitative. Despite the newness of the ED physiotherapy role, this review reveals that the provision of physiotherapists within EDs contributes value to both

BackgroundWorldwide, emergency department (ED) attendances and admissions to acute care have increased significantly. Many EDs are adding physiotherapists to their team thereby allowing doctors to see more cases that are ‘urgent’. This is a move away from the ‘traditional’ physiotherapy service whereby the ED team refers patients to an outpatient physiotherapy service sometimes resulting in significant delays. Internationally, there is no agreed consensus on the role or value of ED-based physiotherapists.AimThe objective of this review was to retrieve, critically appraise and synthesise the evidence from studies relating to patients’ and healthcare professionals’ experiences and/or perceptions of physiotherapy services in the ED.MethodThis is a systematic review (SR) synthesising qualitative studies, which have considered patients’ (population 1) and healthcare professionals’ (population 2) experiences and/or perceptions (outcomes) of ED physiotherapy services (exposure). A comprehensive systematic search, limited to English language articles, was undertaken on seven electronic medical databases (Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, AMED, BNI, PubMed and PEDro) for the period January 2006 to October 2016. Grey literature was identified using Google Scholar, reference lists and website searching. The Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) qualitative checklist was used to appraise all included studies. All studies were data extracted and quality appraised by two reviewers to enhance rigour and reduce bias.ResultsA total of 2163 studies were screened, 10 received full-text review and 7 studies were included in the final review. Six of the studies originated in Australia and one from the USA. The themes that emerged were as follows:Patients and healthcare professionals view ED-based physiotherapists as having (1) expert clinical skills and (2) an educational role.There is role confusion and lack of integration of the ED-based physiotherapist within the ED team.ConclusionThis review adds an in-depth human perspective to the current ED physiotherapy literature, which provides insight into how ED healthcare services and physiotherapy services specifically should be developed and delivered in the future. The knowledge from this review has implications for future education programmes, as well as development of both new care pathways and physiotherapy clinical roles.Research into ED-based physiotherapy services is predominantly quantitative. Despite the newness of the ED physiotherapy role, this review reveals that the provision of physiotherapists within EDs contributes value to both patients and staff. However, the dominance of Australian research means it is uncertain how it translates to the UK or elsewhere. There needs to be further UK-based research.

Background/Aims Rehabilitation professionals can be members of international emergency responding medical teams after a natural disaster or following conflict. There is little research that explores the experiences of rehabilitation professionals who participate in these short-term emergency responses. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of rehabilitation professionals, specifically those of occupational therapists and physiotherapists. Objectives included examining personal and professional development opportunities, and how these experiences might inform future responses and the rehabilitation professional role. Methods A phenomenological approach was undertaken. Eight semi-structured interviews were carried out with rehabilitation professionals who had worked as part of short-term response following conflict or sudden-onset disaster. Transcriptions were analysed using thematic analysis. Results Two main themes and subsequent subthemes emerged. Theme 1 was challenges, with subthemes: an emotional journey; have I made a difference; and cultural and contextual awareness. Theme 2 was opportunities, with subthemes: a short-term response; working together; and developing skills and knowledge. Conclusions The experiences of UK-based rehabilitation professionals on short-term rotational responses as part of an emergency specialised rehabilitation team were overall positive. Challenges have implications for developing future pre- and post-response training and support. Further research is recommended to determine the contribution of these responses and to continue to develop understanding of the rehabilitation professional role in a responding specialised rehabilitation team.

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