Scope to do better: Feasibility of an online learning platform to implement Allied Health scope of practice

Mrs Melanie Haley¹, Ms Kimberley Williams¹, Mr Matthew Carson¹, Mr Grant Scroggie²

¹Eastern Health, Box Hill, Australia, ²St Vincent’s Hospital, Fitzroy, Australia

Aim:

To assess the feasibility of utilising a hospital network online platform to implement review of clinician scope of practice

Design:

A qualitative survey of staff

Method:

Items pertaining to physiotherapy scope of practice were identified by the clinical lead grade 4 physiotherapists and physiotherapy leadership team at a large metropolitan hospital network. An online tool to evaluate clinical performance and frequency of exposure against the scope of practice items was developed on the Eastern Health online learning platform. Online scope of practice was implemented in 2020-2021 with a staggered introduction to the entire physiotherapy profession. Physiotherapists completed an online evaluation survey following implementation.

Results:

Grade 2 and Grade 4 evaluation is pending. Implementation of physiotherapy scope of practice was staggered over seven months, allowing time for completion of the online tool and discussion with supervisor. Response rate for the evaluation of Grade 1 and 3’s was 69%. Completion of the online tool took approximately two hours and there was a range of 1-3 sessions required to complete scope of practice. 78% of respondents were satisfied with the online scope of practice and 89% of respondents found it easy to find and complete. Twenty-two respondents encountered some challenge(s) in completing their online scope of practice, but only four indicated that their challenge had not been at least partially addressed with support. Failures and limitations of technology were frequently cited, but more junior staff members less frequently identified challenges.

Conclusion:

Scope of practice can be implemented using an online platform and qualitative evaluation suggests positive clinical impact and acceptance of an online physiotherapy scope of practice tool.

Biography:

Melanie Haley is a clinical lead physiotherapist at Eastern Health and has been tasked with the physiotherapy implementation of scope of practice on an online platform. Melanie has a Masters of Gerontology and has clinical and research interests in frailty, falls, hospital related functional decline, models of health service delivery and delirium.