Pursuant to section 11(1) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 ("the Act"), the Physiotherapy Board specifies the following new scope of practice:
Scope of Practice - Physiotherapy Specialist
- Physiotherapy specialists are expert physiotherapists who have advanced education, knowledge and skills to practise within a specific area of clinical practice;
- as specialist clinicians, they demonstrate leadership in consultancy, education and research;
- they work collaboratively with the physiotherapy profession and within the wider health team across a range of health and disability settings;
- physiotherapy specialists actively participate and take a leadership role in professional activities, including local and national strategy and policy development; and
- they work in partnership with individuals, whanau, families and communities to optimise health outcomes.
Pursuant to section 12 of the Act, the following qualifications are prescribed for registration as a physiotherapy specialist:
Qualifications Prescribed for Registration in the Scope of Practice: Physiotherapy Specialist
- Provide evidence of successful completion of a minimum of a clinically focused postgraduate Master’s Degree programme, relevant to the specialist area of physiotherapy practice; and
- successful completion of the assessment process approved by the Physiotherapy Board for persons who have met all other set criteria for physiotherapy specialist registration.
This notice takes effect from 1 January 2013.
Dated at Wellington this 29th day of October 2012.
SUSAN J. BEGGS, Registrar, Physiotherapy Board.
*Please insert this new scope of practice as an amendment to the notice on page 2972 in the Supplement to the New Zealand Gazette, 15 September 2004, No. 120.