Distribution of working time and contents of physiotherapy activities in a clinical setting--methodological...

The purpose of the present study was to collect personnel utilization data in the physiotherapy department of a general hospital as a basis for improving the practice of physiotherapy. Over a four-week period in a process of continuous observation 12 physiotherapists recorded their activities under predefined task categories. The percentages of total time used in the observed activities were as follows: direct patient treatment 31%, other work (planning, recording, arranging walking aids and student guidance) 10%, and cooperation (consultation, meetings, arranging patients' affairs, counselling relatives and parents) 9%. The proportion of uncategorized work amounted to half of the total working time. Physical exercise and counselling in direct patient care, preparation and records in other work and teamwork and cooperation with parents were the commonest activities recorded. The physiotherapists' time schedule in the different wards differed in terms of mean treatment time per patient and amount of patients per day. The major problems were felt to be the lack of assessment methods of follow-up and feed-back systems for patients after hospital care and uncertainty as to what the content of practise should contain. The observation method appeared to be a useful tool for collecting personnel utilization data in a physiotherapy department.