WCPT congress: CSP wins vote on disabled people working as physios

The decision came on the opening days of the four-yearly World Confederation for Physical Therapy annual meeting and congress, held in Amsterdam this week.

Nearly 5,000 delegates from 88 countries gathered for the conference which formally opened on Monday.

In the AGM held before then, CSP chair Ann Green spelt out the importance of allowing those with a disability to work as physios.

'This resolution calls on the WCPT to encourage the access of people with disabilities into practice and to support those who may acquire disabilities in later life,' she said. 'This is in line with the UN Convention on persons with disabilities.'

Good track record

She said the UK had a long history of integrating people with disabilities, including those who were blind or partially sighted, into the workplace. They had been full members of the CSP since 1928, she said.

So long as they fulfilled the standards of training there should be no reason not to include them in all the duties of a professional physiotherapist, she said.

Supervision of assistants

The CSP also successfully amended a motion that suggested assistants should not work without supervision from a qualified physio. They argued that as long as a physio asking a support worker to carry out a task had ensured they were appropriately qualified to do the task, there was no reason for close supervision.

The AGM also agreed that the next conference would be held in Singapore in 2015.