Do physios have to be trained?

[Bikeybikeface]

I was looking for hydrotherapy and I could only find one place near me which did it. I went for one session and although he seemed to know what he was talking about in regards my injury, there was one thing he mentioned that had my spidey senses tingling. It was a pretty big thing too.

So, afterwards I looked into him more and nowhere on the web page did it have his name or qualifications. The hydro therapy is only part of the business too, seems he has his fingers in a lot of pies.
Now, call me stupid for not digging deeper before my session, but I assumed that to call yourself a physiotherapist you’d have to have gone to university and graduated. Is this not the case? Can you call yourself a physio without extensive training?

No you can’t, I believe it’s a protected title and you need to have done a degree or MSc. They should be registered with HCPC

Yes you need to be trained, it's a protected title. It takes quite a while too as it's a lot of anatomy.

Yes you do

Physiotherapist is a protected title for those qualified and registered. You can check the register here: www.hcpc-uk.org/check-the-register/ and you can report if people are using the title inappropriately.

Hydrotherapist isn’t really a title or profession though so it depends on the wording they have used.

Quite sure it doesn't say he does 'physical therapy' ?

If it says he's a qualified physiotherapist then report him

Did he say he was a physiotherapist or that he was offering hydrotherapy? My understanding is that hydrotherapy is an umbrella term for therapeutic activities/ exercises carried out in water but not a legally protected term and so anybody can say they are offering ‘hydrotherapy.’ Although ideally it would be carried out by a qualified physiotherapist, or they would have at least put the programme in place to be carried out by somebody else, I’m not sure that legally hydrotherapy is only able to be offered by physiotherapists as I’m not sure it’s an official medical term if that makes sense?

Did he claim to by a qualified physiotherapist or just refer to offering hydrotherapy?

I’m just trying to find the exact wording now.

Ok so Google says physical therapy but I take it that’s an umbrella term and doesn’t actually mean physiotherapist?
It’s quite misleading.

Sounds like they’re misleading then. As everyone else said to be a physio you have to have a degree in physiotherapy and be registered with the Hcpc.

I knew it would be 'physical therapy'

Misleading to the uninitiated but unfortunately not illegal

Physical therapy is not physiotherapist.

i used to work somewhere that provided physiotherapy and hydrotherapy. The physios could offer both treatments. The people who had the hydrotherapy qualification (can’t remember the level but wasn’t degree), could only offer hydrotherapy.

I’ve searched their website and it’s very vague. They did have photos of staff on it with names but they aren’t there anymore. Maybe someone reported it. Seems like I’m not the only one to have been caught out though.

Physical therapy is a vague term. It’s different from physio therapy.
Its also totally different from hydrotherapy (aka I don’t think being a physio qualifies fir hydrotherapy as such).

So it depends what you expects and what treatment you are receiving/think you are receiving iyswim

In any case, one thing I REALLY would want to know is that he is insured for that therapy!!

I'm a physio. As others have said we have to be registered with HCPC to practice and have a degree. I'd report him to the HCPC, it's unethical and I'd assume illegal.

So this is what made me dubious about his knowledge.
I have C7 C8 T1 root avulsion which means my hand won’t work as my nerves are no longer attached to my spinal cord.
He was asking me to move It and I said, I can’t because if the nerves. He said confidently “ oh, nerves are only to do with feeling and sensation, you should be able to move it eventually”.
I was a bit gobsmacked at that which is why I looked into it. This was about 5 weeks ago and it’s been playing on my mind.

I think the wording is pretty vague, suggesting there is more than one employee, of which one is a physiotherapist...which may well be intentional. Does he employ anyone else?

Physical therapy is also a protected term.

It's a 3yr degree course.

Hi OP. Physiotherapist and Physical Therapist are both protected titles in the UK. You can look to see if someone is a registered physiotherapist by accessing the Health and Care Professions Council register. It is publicly accessible. All physiotherapists have to renew their registration every two years. The only way to have your name entered onto the register is for your name to be sent by your University programme at graduation. You cannot register yourself. Unfortunately, there are quite a few people who have a few qualifications in massage etc who claim they are physiotherapists. If the person you saw is not registered, they can be prosecuted. Please do check, physiotherapy training is very rigorous for a reason. Please feel free to PM me if helpful. I work in this field.

You do realise that you may have just outed yourself because I've just looked up the business and the person that you referred to (you posted the info!) and described your condition and about when you visited. You might want to get this edited?

But looking at all this it does not seem to say that he is claiming to be a physiotherapist. And there is nothing to say that they might not technically have someone on call who is qualified. If he has someone on the books for n hour then he has a physio on staff! Misleading yes, maybe, but did you actually specifically ask if you were being treated by a physiotherapist? Because if you didn't, he hasn't misrepresented anything.

Im going to report him, if he’s above board and employs or contracts out to qualified physios then he can explain that. Seeing as how little knowledge he had to my injury, even though I explained it prior, I would hate for someone to have their injury exacerbated by him.

I think it’s the vagueness that’s really making me think he’s being underhanded. If you have relevant qualifications, letters after your name, you’d display them with pride surely.

This mentions a physio, sports therapist and massage therapist, suggesting that they are three different people. Is he definitely supposed to be the physio?

Does he claim he is a registered oxhysio. The pride are selves would be enough for me to think this is amateur.