The intrusiveness and the false of social recognition, main problems of physiotherapists.

Madrid, January of 2013. Almost a hundred of physiotherapists of the community of Madrid have participated in the I Jornadas professionals of physiotherapy in the private Sector to identify and find solutions to the problems that currently suffers from this specialty in private of exercise.

After this encounter, professionals have determined that the main threats that currently supports the physiotherapy are the intrusiveness and unfair competition; the lack of knowledge and social recognition of the profession; and various aspects of nature economic and labor, not linked, mostly, with the current economic situation in the country.

For Carlos Valiente, Dean of the professional physiotherapists of the community of Madrid, organizing body of the encounter, the improvement of the current situation of the physiotherapist passes by the unity of action, of the commitment of physiotherapists to practice as such, avoiding abuses, and to vindicate the competent authorities an adequate legislative framework ”.

One of our obligations as a professional association is to safeguard the health of patients and guarantee a good service of physiotherapy ”, reminded Valiente, therefore, encourage everyone who identify a center of dubious professionalism that you renounce it through our entity ”.

Nevertheless deems it necessary a greater involvement of the Madrid City Council and the Ministry of health and consumption in the awareness of the population and the pursuit of fraud to definitively end the problem, since, as we have seen through various surveys, citizens often can’t differentiate the sanitary professionals regulated, other scheduled practices as alternative therapies ”, which do not guarantee a sanitary control ”.

Osteopaths, acupuncturists, chiropractors, etc., are not recognized by the Spanish legislation as health professionals, so a person with a title of osteopath ” knowledge that currently are required to treat pathologies has no certified ”, alert Valiente. else is a health care professional to complete your training with this type of course and use the knowledge acquired in them to supplement their treatments, as it is the case of many physiotherapists ”.

Lack of social recognition and job insecurity

Another problem facing the group, according to the Dean of the collegiate institution, is the lack of social recognition, also related to lack of knowledge of the profession. our goal is to finish with the myth that we are massage therapists, because we can offer a wide range of facilities and areas in which the physiotherapy is used, as in breathing treatments, aimed at women, the prevention of injuries in different areas such as the labour, the performing arts, etc. ”

these aspects of the profession, and especially its social usefulness in terms of accelerating recovery postsurgical patients; promote a higher quality of life to the citizen; and contribute decisively to a smaller pharmaceutical expenditure, they need to continue to meet to set limits with other professions in a clear way, ”, said Valiente.

In addition, Valiente has ensured that it affects also the lack of social recognition the fact that in public health the physiotherapist depend on another professional group to develop their work. In this regard believe that physical therapy is a discipline of degree higher, sufficiently qualified and authorized to have more independence in the development of its activity ”.

Also pointed out that there is still a great lack of knowledge by the collective doctor on the work of physiotherapists, situation that we consider important to change, not only for the benefit of our profession, but above all of the patients in our country ”. For this, the teamwork between physiotherapists and healthcare professionals from different disciplines has considered essential.

They believe that the current situation is due to the lack of knowledge by the collective benefits doctor who covers physical therapy, and are committed to teamwork between doctors and physiotherapists to solve the problem.

In addition, he has denounced the lack of representation have physiotherapists who work self-employed in health centres and hospitals, when negotiating the collective agreement. It’s a Convention that presents many generalizations, and physiotherapists to be minority, has no voice that expresses the needs of the profession ”, has lamented.

It has warned of the fact that no Contracting entrepreneurs, physiotherapists or not, taking advantage of the precarious employment and the painful existing legal regulation ”, require the physiotherapist to work as a freelancer, but within the conditions established by the Convention. In short, is imposed by a covert relationship of pseudo-laboral type, which is also no complaint before the labour inspectorate or the labour jurisdiction ”, has declared.

Aside from these issues, Valiente recalled that you despite actions that from the professional College of physiotherapists we have performed against the privatization of the management of 6 public hospitals in Madrid, are not against private health care, since it develops an important role when it comes to the public desmasificar, if not of the privatization of the public ”.

College professional physiotherapists of the community of Madrid

The professional physiotherapists of the community of Madrid is an organization that represents more than 7,600 physiotherapists at the regional level. Its objectives are to safeguard the principles deontological and ethical of physiotherapy, the defence and the promotion of health and well-being of the citizens of the community of Madrid, in collaboration with the public authorities, as well as promotion to level scientific, culturalEconomic and social of the collegiate.