Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To asks the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timetable is for the implementation of all of the pilots for first contact physiotherapy practitioners; and when the outcomes of those pilots will be reported.

The First Contact Practitioners (FCP) pilot is part of NHS England’s plan to increase staff working in primary care to help ease pressure on general practice. FCPs are physiotherapists with advance practice, who are able to support patient management in primary care. To date, 41 of 42 physiotherapy practitioner pilot sites have commenced, with a further site scheduled to go live on 1 April 2019.

An evaluation report is due to be completed in spring 2019, which is based on pilot site mobilisation. Evaluation will continue during 2019/20.