On Monday there was quite a lively physiotalk tweetchat all about the new Physiotherapy initiative in the NHS called first contact practitioners (FCPs). There has been a lot of confusion and ambiguity as to what FCPs are and what they do, but in a nutshell they are practitioners (not just physios) which work in GP surgery’s (primary care) and see some of the musculoskeletal caseload.
The tweetchat on Monday went a long way to clarify some of the concerns voiced about FCPs and definitely read the tweetchat transcript to find out what happened.
One of the most common questions about the role of FCP is what skills / level of knowledge you need to work in this role. There is a document available which explains the answer called Musculoskeletal Core Capabilities Framework. This provides the foundations of the job and the framework comprises 14 Capabilities in four domains:
Domain A. Person-Centred Approaches
Domain B. Assessment, Investigation and Diagnosis
Domain C. Condition Management, Interventions and Prevention
Domain D. Service and Professional Development
You have to sign up with your email address if you would like to see the copy of the framework, this makes sure you keep uptodate with changed and developments to the framework.