Requirements and enablers to build capacity of physiotherapy placements across the Irish public healthcare system

Introduction To meet projected public healthcare workforce needs, healthcare graduate supply must increase. Capacity of placements across healthcare settings must grow to facilitate an increase in student enrolment across physiotherapy programmes. Methodology A quantitative research approach was followed with 40 physiotherapist managers completing an anonymous online survey. Findings Whilst demand for placements has increased across all healthcare settings, supply in primary care increased but remained constant in acute care. Twenty-five percent of respondents provided placements under capacity. In primary care settings placement capacity was calculated using a singular method, whilst in the acute care setting multiple approaches were used. Willingness of staff was the most reported means to calculate placement capacity across all settings. There was no consistent physiotherapist to student ratio. The majority of respondents in primary care agreed that service delivery levels remain constant with students on placement, while the majority of respondents in acute care disagreed. There was agreement with nine enablers to placement provision related to the healthcare setting and eight enablers related to practice educators; however when the enablers were ranked, differences were identified across the healthcare settings. Conclusion Placements must be provided at capacity, and capacity calculated using consistent robust data. A physiotherapist to student ratio and a minimum number of placement days provided by physiotherapist should be considered in order to meet the projected workforce. The impact of students on service delivery levels and practice educator caseload should be calculated. Top ranked enablers to the provision of placements across different healthcare settings must be implemented and supported.