8 July 2020

It has been so good having Matt Knights as a student Physiotherapist at St Pancras Hospital Rehabilitation Unit (see our previous story about Matt Knights) which increased the number of wards taking patients from London Hospitals during the Covid pandemic.

He has worked hard and, learnt so much, he has taught us things too. The patients have given lots of positive feedback about him. He has been a valuable member of the team and soon will have completed his clinical hours so that he can qualify as a Physiotherapist.

We have had six Physiotherapy students at St Pancras Hospital during the Covid pandemic. Matt, Jess, Osayi, James, Ricardo and Tahj have made such a difference and we have enjoyed working with them.

It is good to see this blog about Matt’s experiences working with Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust. It’s good also to hear that Matt has enjoyed his experience at St Pancras Hospital and felt he was given enough support as it was so very busy, we did our best and hoped the Physiotherapy students would feel supported.

Having so many Physiotherapy students in one unit at the same time was new to CNWL, but it worked really well. I have had so much positive feedback from staff of all professions about the contribution the students have made and the students were embraced as team members and we all worked together to achieve the task of caring for and rehabilitating patients with and without Covid.

One of the St Mary’s students Jess, completed her clinical hours whilst she was with us and has gone on to the Health and Care Professions Council (the organisation that regulates Physiotherapist) temporary register created for the Covid 19 pandemic to enable Allied Health Professionals about to complete their training get into the workforce. She is now working as a Band 5 Physiotherapist at St Pancras Hospital.

Another of the Physio Students Sakina, who was given a placement in  the Hillingdon Rapid Response team has also completed her hours and is now on the HCPC register and has a Band 5 Physiotherapist post in that team.

I want to build on these successes to help our recruitment to Physiotherapy posts. I am putting together plans for the future to increase the numbers of Physiotherapy students we have in clinical placements across the Trust and how we attract them to work in our Trust.

If you are interested in opportunities to work as a Physiotherapist in CNWL contact me Johannewatson@nhs.net