Public sector physiotherapists' organisation and profile: Implications for intensive care service.
Farhana Karachi, Rik Gosselink, Susan Hanekom
PMID 37065455WHAT IT FOUND
Public sector physiotherapists in South Africa face a workload of one therapist for every 69 hospital beds.
The workforce is predominantly young and junior, with very few holding advanced qualifications or international intensive care experience.
Key findings
01The calculated physiotherapist-to-bed ratio in the surveyed public sector hospitals was one physiotherapist for every 69 beds.
02The workforce is heavily junior, with 61.5% of physiotherapists under 30 years old and half holding entry-level or community service posts.
03Specialist qualifications are rare, with 95.1% holding only a bachelor’s degree and just one therapist reporting a master’s degree in critical care.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study relies on self-reported data from department heads, which may not capture the nuanced reality of daily workload distribution or the actual time spent with each patient. The survey covers a specific point in time, so staffing ratios and workforce profiles may have changed since the data was collected. While the response rate was 100% for the initial contact, only 70% of departments completed the full survey, which could introduce bias if non-responders had significantly different staffing profiles.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret the high bed-to-therapist ratio as a direct measure of ICU-specific workload. The ratio of 1:69 includes all hospital beds, not just intensive care units, so it reflects the total hospital burden rather than the specific intensity of care within the ICU.