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Risk assessment

Use our unexpected effects alerts programme to facilitate risk assessment within the physiotherapy workplace.

You can help ensure minimal risk of injury to patients or workforce colleagues by using the alerts posted on this page: view the latest Excel download.

The CSP uses iCSP, Frontline and this website to help keep you informed of alerts relating to physiotherapy. If you are aware of a new alert not yet featured on our listing, please email CSP professional adviser Léonie Dawson with the details: dawsonl@csp.org.uk.

Terminology

The national reporting agencies define an adverse incident as an event which causes, or has the potential to cause, unexpected or unwanted effects involving the safety of patients, staff, users and other people and encompasses mistakes made by the practitioner.

The CSP is using the term 'unexpected effects' to identify failure of technique or equipment when used correctly and appropriately. This does not address practitioner error as complaints regarding physiotherapists are dealt with by the HPC.

Reporting across the UK

England and the devolved countries have formal processes for receiving and investigating reports of adverse events, many of which result in alerts. These are logged on the national body's website and disseminated by email to those signed up to receive them, but may not be published outside the country of investigation.

An example is the Scottish investigation into an incident involving therapeutic resistant bands which is relevant to physiotherapy but was not broadcast by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and therefore only publicised in Scotland.

Those working outside the public bodies are not exposed to the same formal reporting process and the CSP programme provides an identified process and a central resource for all members to access for up to date information on alerts relating to the profession. It does not replace the reporting system at local and national level, nor does it infringe on the HPC regulatory role.