In 2006/7, newly qualified healthcare professionals and in particular physiotherapists started to experience significant problems in securing their first post in healthcare. This was due to a combination of increased commissions, failures in workforce planning and unanticipated financial pressures.
To tackle the issue, the Social Partnership Forum (SPF) decided to work with stakeholder organisations to help support newly qualified healthcare professionals into employment.
As a result of this work, considerable progress has been made. The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) tracked the progress of the 2,377 physiotherapists that qualified in 2008 across the UK. Having contacted 79 percent of them, they found that:
- 83% were employed
- 61% have permanent jobs in the physiotherapy area.
- 22% have short-term work
- 9% have not been able to secure a job and are still actively looking
- 8% are no longer looking for physiotherapy work
This compares to the situation for the 2006 graduates at the same point in time after graduating (April 2007) when:
- 53% were employed
- 25% in permanent jobs
- 28% in short term jobs
- 45% had not been able to secure a job and were still actively looking
- 2% were no longer looking for physiotherapy work
Although NHS Employers, the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and the Department of Health continue to work together nationally on this area of work, we do not want to lose the learning around how partnership working can deliver solutions to real issues and measures that NHS organisations can take to avoid and address the problems graduates have faced in securing jobs, not just in physiotherapy but across all disciplines.