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news Tobacco Advertising Ban Supported

The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy sclerosis, and therefore require years of strongly supports proposals for a ban on physiotherapy, are heavy smokers. tobacco advertising being discussed by the While physiotherapists have a pro- European Parliament and EC Commission. fessional duty to ensure all their patients

In a statement to the EC the Society receive the best care and attention, there says that a vast amount of valuable time is a national shortage of physiotherapists is spent treating people who have smoked and time spent on people with self-induced themselves to bad health. Physiotherapists illnesses and conditions is time lost to other treat people who have cancer, often in the patients, claims the CSi? form of hospice care, and advise patients Mrs Patricia Phillips, chairman of who have heart disease on the value of Council, said: ‘William Waldegrave has a exercise. prime responsiblity for encouraging good

The submission points out that many of health in the population. Not to support the the people who develop chest infections widespread calls for a ban on tobacco after an operation and have to have physio- advertising would be both an abdication therapy to clear their lungs are heavy of that responsibility and tacit support smokers. Many of the people who have for the tobacco industry and for its deadly their legs amputated because of arterio- products.’

National Physiotherapy Day Physiotherapy and Children - May 19, 1992

Many of you will now have well laid plans for the first physiotherapy day of 1992. We have heard from a number of people who are forging ahead with organising events for the day. We have also had requests for the literature we are producing for the day. This won’t be available until the end of March, so please bear with us. Once we have the materials they will be sent out to regional representatives of the Association of Paediatric Chartered Physiotherapists. If you are a APCP member, please place your orders with the Group. If not you should send your orders to the Public Relations Department at the CSP.

The materials likely to be available are:

0 Physiotherapy and Children leaflet 0 Children’s leaflet 0 Poster 0 Balloons 0 Special T-shirt

In the December Journal we asked for drawingdpaintings by children of their physiotherapists. We have to date not received any! As we hope to include them in the leaflet for children which should be available in March we desperately need some by the end of February at the very latest. Can you help? Please send any contributions to Lynn Duxbury in the PR Department at the CSP

Degree Course Leaders Southampton

Mr Paul Standing MSc MCSP DipTP has been appointed reader in physiotherapy at the Combined School of Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy of South- ampton University.

He is currently head of the West London Institute of Higher Education School of Physiotherapy, and has an on-going interest in biomechanics with a particular interest in human performance and sport.

With the new head of the occupational therapy school, Rosemary Barnitt, he will plan the honours degree courses for the schools which will accept students from October 1993.

Hatfield

Mrs Heather Coates BA MCSP DipTP has been appointed director of studies for physiotherapy in the newly created Division of Clinical Sciences at Hatfield Polytechnic.

For the past 15 years she has been a senior clinical lecturer at Coventry Poly- technic School of Physiotherapy. She is an external examiner for the CSP and a former member of the Journal Committee.

Mrs Coates will be leading a team to

develop a BSc honours degree course in physiotherapy at Hatfield Polytechnic, to be launched next year.

Under the Government’s new legislation, currently before Parliament, Hatfield Polytechnic will become the University of Hertfordshire.

New Photographs Available The CSP Public Relations Department

now has more than 30 photographs of physiotherapists at work in various types of location.

Each 10 in x 8 in photograph is mounted on board and laminated. They are ideal for displays at careers conventions, exhibitions and presentations.

Recent additions to the collection show physiotherapists explaining exercise regimes and doing manipulation and mobilisation, and a patient receiving traction.

If you would like to borrow any of the photographs, up to four can be loaned from the Public Relations Department at the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.

Please give your membership number and post code in all letters to the CSP

Costing Physiotherapy Services The Oxford Regional Health Authority

Group of Senior Physiotherapy Managers has developed and published a new system of costing physiotherapy services.

The system consists of caseweight bands of patient conditions and problems requiring broadly similar amounts of physiotherapy input. It includes a method of using the bands to arrive at physio- therapy costs.

The conclusions are based upon data collected during a six-week period across the complete range of physiotherapy services within the Oxford Regional Health Authority and is both simple to use and reflects current clinical practice. The range of input between the bands varies by a factor of 864. The project was funded by Oxford Regional Health Authority Finance Directorate.

The full report may be purchased for f5 from Mr R Saunders MCSP, District Physio- therapist, Stoke Mandeville Hospital, Mandeville Road, Aylesbury. Bucks HP21 8AL.. Cheques should be payable to ‘Stoke Mandeville Hospital’.

€1,000 Travel Fellowships Travel Fellowships of up to f1,OOO are

available to UK health professionals or researchers visiting symposia to present work on pain or pain management, through a scheme, funded by the Nurofen Pain Relief Project.

Three grants of up to f1,000 to cover travel costs are offered, with entries being judged twice a year on March 31 and September 30. Previous winners have been funded to visit conferences in India, America and Russia, as well as European destinations.

The scheme is open to UK-based health professionals and researchers, not yet holding senior positions, whose work has been accepted for presentation. No restrictions are placed on choice of topic or content of research, provided the subject area is pain.

Entries for the next judging session, presided over by an independent panel headed by Dr Patrick Wall, must be received by March 31.

For further information, or an entry form, write to Nurofen Pain Relief Project (TF), 4 Cloisters House, 8 Battersea Park Road, London SW8 4BG.

Project Phoenix Trust Physiotherapists and other health care

professionals who would like to help with study tours for mixed physical ability groups of adults are sought for visits to Provence, Rome and Pompeii, or Egypt. Volunteers, who will be asked to contribute towards their costs, are invited to apply to Mrs V Saunders, Project Phoenix Trust, 56 Burnaby Road, Southend on Sea, Essex SS1 E L .

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Brain Injury Initiative Twelve sites around the country have

been selected to take part in the Govern- ment's €1 million initiative to improve NHS rehabilitation services for brain injury, Secretary of State for Health William Waldegrave announced last month.

The bids from the chosen sites cover a wide range of innovative approaches to the rehabilitation of people with brain injury. The money will go towards additional staffing, in many cases to improve com- munity services and support for families and carers.

Your Patients are Waiting . . . . . . in Brazil, Cambodia, Egypt, El

Salvador, India, Lesotho. Malaysia, Namibia, North Africa, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and Uganda.

Experienced physiotherapists are needed for overseas contracts of varying lengths and with many different voluntary government or mission agencies.

Details from International Health Exchange (formerly Bureau for Overseas Medical Service), Africa Centre, 38 King Street, London WC2E 8JT (tel 071-836 5833).

Post-registration Course Successes

Association of Chartered Physio- therapists in Riding for the Disabled The Horse in Rehabilitation: Level II

Morgan, Joyce Pringle, Jennifer Train.

Bath Hydrotherapy Course: March 1991

Jane Crowe, Fiona Hainsworth, Christine

Rachel James.

Physiotherapy in Intensive Respiratory Care: Sheffield City Polytechnic

Linda Ann Boruta (distinction in clinical component), Robert Andrew Bryan, Sara Jane Lousie Cornes, Mary Teresa Coyle, Georgina Kate Eke, Meloney Claire Fox, Kay Elaine Hatton, Anne Margaret Mary Hughes, Lesley Joan Maciver, Bethan Sian Owen, Bronwen Parkington, Dena Rutter, Claire Nicola Sefton, Christine Margaret Somers.

Combined Manipulation Course: Level I and II: Sheffield City Polytechnic

Catherine Emma Aldgate, Andrea Margaret BarKer, Elinor Booth, Helen Sarah Chesser, Gareth Robert Hill. Karen Rosemary Nicolson, Alison Roche, Maxwell Glyn Smyth, Janice Helen Yule.

.The National Council for Hospice and Specialist Palliative Care Services has been formed to represent the interests of terminally ill people. Its chief executive is Mrs Jean Gaffin and its address is 59 Bryanston Street, London WlA 2AZ (tel 071-611 1622/1225).

SPECIFIC INTEREST GROUPS

AACP The Acupuncture Association of

Chartered Physiotherapists, with the help of the Public Relations Department of the CSf? has recently produced two leaflets on acupuncture and physiotherapy. One is aimed at the medical profession and other professionals, the second is for the general public. These leaflets are available for members to help publicise their work. For details contact Maureen Lovesey, acting public relations officer and vice-chairman of AACP and chairman of IAAPT, 6 Barncroft Road, Berkhamsted, Herts HP4 3NL (tel 0442 864243).

ACPSM Annual subscriptions to the Association

of Chartered Physiotherapists in Sports Medicine were due for renewal on January 1. Will any member who has not yet paid a 1992 subscription please send immediately a cheque for €15, payable to 'ACPSM', to Mrs L Daley, 65 Station Road, Castle Donington, Derby DE7 2NL.

ACPIN Owing to the retirement of a core

committee member, honorary membership secretary and honorary treasurer, elections for these posts will be held at the AGM on March 21 of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists Interested in Neurology (see January Journal). Please send nominations by March 10 to Mrs H McKibbin, Honorary Secretary ACPIN, Physiotherapy Department, Royal United Hospital, Combe Park, Bath BAl 3NG.

New Year Honour Miss Agnes Thomson MCSP, formerly

superintendent physiotherapist at the Royal Alexandra Infirmary, Paisley, was awarded an MBE in the New Year Honours list.

It was in recognition of her service to the Philemon Housing Association in Glasgow. Miss Thomson founded the association in 1970 and has been its chairperson ever since.

'She was an outstanding superintendent until she retired, much respected and loved by staff', says a colleague, Mrs Isabel McNab.

'Subsequently she has devoted herself to the plight of the homeless in a very positive way, by founding and running the Philemon Housing Association.'

Wheelchair Help New directions were considered at its

AGM last month by Whizz-kidz, a charity which raises funds to provide wheelchairs for children. Those who cannot obtain funding elsewhere, or who need special kinds of wheelchairs - for example, for sporting activities - will be considered with the help of assessments by physio- therapists and occupational therapists.

Members who know of children with disabilities who could benefit from such provision are invited to contact Mrs L Landau. Administrator, The Movement for Non-mobile Children (Whizz-Kidz), 31 Kensington Church Street, London WE 4LL (tel 071-938 4600).

Cambridge Gift Shown below is a picture of Clare College, Cambridge, which was presented to the Society by the Cambridge School of Physiotherapy in memory of its late principal, Mrs Barbara Halsex who was a chief examiner (part /I) for the Society

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industrial relations news Section 32 Is Scrapped Secretary of State Acts Unilaterally

In an unprecedented move, clearly timed to take maximum advantage of the Christmas lull, the Secretary of State, William Waldegrave, has announced Section 32 of the General Whitley Council Terms and Conditions of Service, which covers individual appeal rights, will be revoked by March 30, 1992. NHS employers have been asked to set up pro- cedures for handling individual grievances locally by this date, ‘following consultation with staff and local staff representatives’. These procedures ‘shall provide for the reference of grievances to a person or body other than the employing authority where the parties agree in relation to a specific grievance that the reference is appropriate’.

In commenting, there is little need to expand on the GWC press release, which says: ‘The Secretary of State has used his powers to ride roughshod over years of collective bargaining to revoke these long-held rights. The cowardly timing has prevented any public debate during the Christmas holiday and the announcement itself, as well as tearing up the present jointly agreed provisions for hearing appeals, is a fundamental attack on the principle of collective bargaining in the NHS’.

The Secretary of State’s action follows protracted negotiations on a management proposal to restrict employees’ rights to appeal against the misapplication of gradings and conditions of service. The management aim has been to restrict the appeal to employing authority level without recourse to the existing regional or national levels. Staff Side unions moved considerably in negotiations and were prepared to agree to appeals being restricted at employing authority level, provided there was unrestricted access to third-party arbitration i f there were a failure to agree locally.

The Management Side, clearly under pressure from the Department of Health, was not prepared to concede this small element of impartiality for staff. Now the GWC Staff Side is seeking legal advice as to whether the Secretary of State’s action can be contested in the courts.

Although Section 32 is being revoked, local grievance procedures will remain and any changes, including changes to appeals procedures, must be negotiated. Detailed advice will be available from the CSP Industrial Relations Department for stewards involved in negotiating changes.

Manual Handling of Loads - HSE Guidance Delayed

The publication of the Health and Safety Commission’s Health Service Advisory Committee’s Guidance on Manual Handling in the NHS (see Physiotherapy, September 1991), originally expected in November 1991, has been delayed and it is not now expected before MayNune 1992.

The Guidance has reached its ninth draft, and is almost certain to go through further draft stages.

However, the Consultative Document on the draft legislation on Manual Handling of Loads, which also contains draft general guidance, is now available. Copies may be obtained from Sir Robert Jones Memorial Workshops, Units 3 and 5-9, Grain Industrial Estate, Harlow Street, Liverpool L8 4XY (telO51-709 1354/5/6 or fax 051-709 1478).

The CSP strongly recommends that any physiotherapists who are or may be involved in handling and lifting training, or who are involved in safety committees looking into the issue, obtain a copy of this document

WEST DORSET MENTAL HEALTH TRUST Settlement of Dispute

A settlement has been reached between the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy and the West Dorset Mental Health Trust over a dispute relating to the introductiori of new pay and conditions. Only two physio- therapy posts were involved and these have been transferred to the West Dorset General Hospital Trust where Whitley pay and conditions continue to apply to both existing and new Trust employees.

The Society therefore removes its objections to the filling ot these posts.

Please note that the dispute with West Dorset Community Trust over its new pay and conditions package remains in effect.

Charter Message An audio tape version of the Patient’s

Charter, with an introduction by William Waldegrave, Secretary of State for Health, has been produced. 13,500 copies are available through a wide range of organ- isations. including the Royal National Institute for the Blind, charities, voluntary organisations for the blind and partially sighted, social services departments, libraries, and societies for the blind including those providing talking newspapers.

It has also been produced in nine ethnic languages.

Copies of the audio version, produced and distributed by Master Transcriptions on behalf of the Department of Health, are being sent to organisations who have direct lines to the visually impaired.

The tapes are free of charge and organisations have been invited to obtain copies by teariiig oif a coupori on the introductory letter and sending it to Master Transcriptions, PO Box 124, Tunbtidge Wells, Kent TN4 8YL.

Display Screen Equipment Proposals for regulations, and

accompanying guidance, which would implement in Great Britain the European Community Directive on the minimum safety and health requirements for work with display screen equipment are contained in a consultative document published last month by the Health and Safety Commission (HSC).

The proposed regulations would apply where employees habitually use display screen equipment as a significant part of their normal work. The main proposals are that employers would be required to assess display screen workstations and reduce any risks found; to ensure that workstations meet specified minimum requirements; to plan display screen work so that there are breaks or changes of activity; and to provide information and training for users. Display screen users would be entitled to eye and eyesight tests, and special spectacles if these are needed and normal ones cannot be used.

Introducing the document, Sir John Cullen, chairman of the Commission, said: ‘The proposals will affect a large number of workplaces, involving - for example - an estimated six million or more display screen workstations. They will form the basis for the essential action which needs to be taken by employers to protect their employees from the problems associated with prolonged display screen work, particularly risks of musculoskeletal disorders, visual fatigue and mental stress.

‘These problems can largely be overcome by applying established ergonomic principles to the workstation and the design of the job, and this is what the draft regulations and guidance point to.

‘We aim to produce regulations and guidance which fully implement the Directive without imposing unnecessary burdens on employers or hampering legitimate new applications of display screen equipment.’

Cornments on the consultative document are invited and should be sent to Mr Nigel Watson, HPD-A4, Health and Safety Executive, Room 520, Baynards House, 1 Chepstow Place, Westbourne Grove, London W2 4TF (tel071-243 6116), to reach him not later than May 21, 1992.

Copies of the document Work with Display Screen Equipment - Proposals for regulations and guidance (ref CD 42) are available free from the Sir Robert Jones Memorial Workshops, Units 3 and 5-9, Grain Industrial Estate, Harlow Street. Liverpool L8 4UH (tel 051-709 1354/5/6).

Notes Directive 90/270/EEC of May 29, 1990 -

Council Directive on the Minimum Safety and Health Requirements for Work with Display Screen Equipment - was published in the Official Journal of the European Community on June 21, 1990 (L 156, pp 14-18). The Directive must be implemented by December 31, 1992.

There is no existing British legislation that lays down specific requirements for work witti display screens. However, such work is subject to the general duties in Sections 2 to 9 of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974.

Physiotherapy, February 1992, vol78, no 2