An Overview of Physiotherapy in UK Prisons
Original Editor - Andrea Beznaczuk-Smyrnew, Mark Chawke, Niamh Coveney, Anthony Gorsek, Jo Hampton, Katie McGregor as part of the QMU Current and Emerging Roles in Physiotherapy Practice Project
Top Contributors - Andrea Beznaczuk-Smyrnew, Anthony Gorsek, Mark Chawke, Katie McGregor, Kim Jackson, Niamh Coveney, Admin, Jo Hampton, 127.0.0.1, George Prudden, WikiSysop, Vidya Acharya and Olajumoke Ogunleye
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Introduction
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Physiotherapy is a constantly evolving role in United Kingdom’s health care system. An emerging role for physiotherapists is working within prisons to treat the prisoners. The CSP (Chartered Society of Physiotherapy) brought this to the forefront with an article about rising COPD rates in prisons in England and Wales and the implications for treatment. Another factor that may be contributing to the emergence of this role is that the number of prisoners in the UK has almost doubled since 1993 (Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name cannot be a simple integer. Use a descriptive title, Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name cannot be a simple integer. Use a descriptive title), further indicating that physiotherapists may need to become more involved in providing health care in prisons.
There are a few things that a physiotherapist may want to know before they treat patients in prison. The aim of this page is to provide useful information for student and registered physiotherapists as well as other allied health care professionals who will be or may be asked to treat prisoners in both outpatient clinics and in prisons. More specifically, a basic understanding of why this is an emerging role in physiotherapy, what to expect when you are about to treat a prisoner, an overview of the ethics and policies that effect physiotherapy treatments in prison, the barriers and facilitators of treating a prisoner, and some general advice from physiotherapists currently treating prisoners will be presented. The HCPC standards of proficiency for physiotherapists (2013) (3) state that we as physiotherapists must be able to practise within the legal and ethical boundaries of our profession. This involves understanding the need to act in the best interests of service users at all times.The prison population in England and Wales has increased by almost 98% from June 1993 to June 2012 due to increased sentences being issued and prisoners staying in prison for longer. The prison population recorded in England and Wales reached over 86,000 in June 2012 ()
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