QMU’s healthcare professionals join COVID-19 fight

Healthcare students at Queen Margaret University have joined the Health Care Professions Councils (HCPC) emergency register to help ease pressure on the NHS and social care amid the ongoing pandemic.

The students responded to calls from the Scottish Government for extra support during the crisis and as a result, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Therapeutic Radiography, Diagnostic Radiography, Speech & Language Therapy, Dietetics and Podiatry students are now working in NHS and social care settings.

Physiotherapy student Sophie McAuliffe is among those who have joined the HCPC register. She said:

“There is going to be a greater role for physiotherapists in the coming weeks and months because people who become unwell with COVID-19 will not only need us while they are sick but afterward too as they begin rehabilitation.

Recovering from COVID-19 could leave patients extremely deconditioned and fatigued in some cases. Sophie added:

“The kind of work physios will be doing on the frontline includes respiratory interventions such as oxygenation, ventilation, breathing techniques and prone positioning.”

“Starting work in this field in the midst of a global pandemic is going to be a challenge, but it’s one I think QMU has equipped us for. QMU has put the support structures in place and our programme leaders have said they’ll keep in touch with us for the first few weeks we’re out working to make sure we’re doing ok during the transition from student to qualified physio”.

Share