Physiotherapist-led care in emergency departments reduces wait times for musculoskeletal patients
Major new research from the University of Sydney has found that physiotherapist-led care significantly reduced emergency department waiting and treatment times for people with back pain, fractures, dislocations and other musculoskeletal conditions. The randomized controlled trial recruited 1,491 patients who presented to five emergency departments in NSW between November 2023 and March 2025. The…
A University of Sydney study found that emergency departments staffed by physiotherapists resulted in shorter wait times and faster care for patients with musculoskeletal conditions like back pain, fractures, and dislocations. Over 1,500 patients in five NSW hospitals were randomly assigned to receive either standard care or care led by physiotherapists.
The study showed that physiotherapist-led care reduced emergency department stays by an hour and sped up assessment by 40 minutes. Importantly, patient outcomes such as pain, quality of life, and adverse events were not compromised. The researchers estimate that scaling this model to all NSW emergency departments could save $19 million annually and free up over 540,000 hours of emergency department capacity.
Associate Professor Gustavo Machado from the Institute for Musculoskeletal Health concluded that these findings provide strong evidence for incorporating physiotherapists into the emergency department workforce for musculoskeletal patients.
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