Consultation

Read the current Standard here and the proposed Standard here

The Adverse event reporting standard was last reviewed in 2018. The Board te Poari has approved a review to ensure the standard remains current, clear and fit for purpose. 

The purpose of the Adverse event reporting standard is to protect the health and safety of the public by:  

1. ensuring open disclosure, appropriate reporting and analysis of adverse events 
2. ensuring that learning takes place and the risk of reoccurrence of similar events can be reduced. 

Due to the significant changes to the layout and content, a comparison table has not been provided. Instead, the key proposed changes to this Standard are outlined as follows:  

• Reformatting to align with the current Physiotherapy Standards Framework, including purpose statement, defined terms, terminology guidance (“must” and “should”), dedicated Te Tiriti section and structured practice requirements. 
• Modernisation and simplification of adverse event reporting requirements, with reliance on the current national adverse event policy rather than reproducing detailed Severity Assessment Code (SAC) requirements within the standard itself. 
• Informed consent section has been moved to the proposed revised Informed consent standard. 
• A stronger emphasis on culturally responsive open disclosure, including involvement of whānau, support people and carers where appropriate. 

The substantive obligations regarding disclosure, reporting and learning from adverse events remain, while the revised drafting provides greater clarity, consistency and alignment with the current Physiotherapy Standards.

Read the current Standard here and the proposed Standard here

The Informed consent standard was last reviewed in 2018. The Board te Poari has approved a review to ensure the standard remains current, clear and fit for purpose. 

The purpose of this standard is to protect the health and safety of the public by ensuring that physiotherapists are:  

1. providing appropriate and culturally appropriate information to kiritaki 
2. gaining and documenting informed consent before providing any physiotherapy services 
3. assessing kiritaki competence to give consent and acting in accordance with the law when there is diminished competence.  

Due to the significant changes to both the structure and content of the standard, a detailed comparison table has not been provided. Instead, the key changes are outlined below: 

• Reformatting of the standard to align with the current Physiotherapy Standards Framework, including the addition of a purpose statement, defined terms, terminology guidance (“must” and “should”), a dedicated Te Tiriti o Waitangi section, and a clearer structure for practice requirements. 
• Addition of explicit requirements regarding seeking and obtaining informed consent when an additional person may be present during service delivery. These additions form the basis for the proposal to revoke the Involvement of an Additional person during a consultation standard, with the substantive requirements incorporated into the revised Informed consent standard. 
• Addition of requirements relating to physiotherapists undertaking assessments for third parties and the use of digital health tools that require the input of personal kiritaki information. 
• Revision and consolidation of the provisions relating to assessing kiritaki competence to provide informed consent, including greater emphasis on capacity, understanding, and the complexity or risk associated with the proposed service. 
• Addition of explicit requirements regarding the withdrawal of consent, including the actions physiotherapists must take when consent is withdrawn. 

The proposed revised Informed consent standard represents a significant revision of the current standard rather than a minor update. The proposed revisions modernise informed consent requirements by strengthening kiritaki‐centred care and improving alignment with the recently reviewed Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, and other recently reviewed standards. 

While the fundamental principles of informed consent remain unchanged, the proposed revisions are intended to provide greater clarity, improve consistency with current legislation and the Board  te Poari requirements for physiotherapists.

Read the current Standard here

The proposal to revoke this standard follows a review of both this standard and the Informed consent standard. The substantive requirements of this standard have been incorporated into the revised Informed consent standard removing the need for a standalone standard.

The current standard was primarily concerned with the circumstances in which another person may be present during a consultation, including support persons, chaperones, interpreters, students, observers, supervisors, and competence reviewers. Across these situations, the central principle was that physiotherapists must ensure kiritaki understand the role and purpose of the additional person and provide informed consent to their presence. 

The proposed revised Informed consent standard during a consultation standard now explicitly requires physiotherapists to:

1. provide information about any proposed additional person, including who they are, why they are present and the role they will undertake;
2. advise kiritaki of their right to give, withhold, or withdraw consent to the involvement of an additional person;
3. obtain informed consent for an additional person’s involvement without the additional person present; and
4. respond appropriately if consent is withdrawn, including ensuring the additional person ceases to be involved or present.

Consistent with the Board te Poari recent standards reviews, the proposed revised approach adopts a more principles‐based framework. The current standard contains a number of detailed examples and prescriptive descriptions of specific categories of additional persons. While these examples can be useful, they may unintentionally constrain interpretation or become less applicable as models of care evolve.

The revised Informed consent standard instead focuses on the overarching principles of informed consent, transparency, autonomy, dignity, privacy, and effective communication. These principles can be applied across a broad range of physiotherapy settings and circumstances without requiring an exhaustive list of examples.

Revoking the stand‐alone Involvement of an additional person during a consultation standard will:

• reduce duplication across the Standards Framework;
• improve consistency between standards;
• place all requirements relating to informed consent in a single location;
• provide greater flexibility for physiotherapists to apply professional judgement in a range of practice settings; and
• maintain public protection through clear obligations regarding informed consent and the involvement of additional persons.

Read the current Standard here and the proposed Standard here

The Non‐treating physiotherapists performing assessments of patients for third parties standard was last reviewed in 2018. The Board te Poari has approved a review to ensure the standard remains current, clear and fit for purpose. 

The purpose of this standard is to protect the health and safety of the public by ensuring that professional opinions and recommendations provided to third parties by physiotherapists are accurate, objective, and based on all available evidence. 

This standard applies when a physiotherapist performs an independent assessment and provides advice to a third party who is not kiritaki, whānau or family. 

Due to the significant changes to the layout and content, a comparison table has not been provided. Instead, the key changes are outlined as follows:  

• Reformatting to align with the current Physiotherapy Standards Framework, including purpose statement, defined terms, terminology guidance (“must” and “should”), dedicated Tiriti section and structured practice requirements. 
• The proposed revised standard represents a substantial modernisation of the existing standard. Rather than prescribing detailed processes, it adopts a shorter, principles‐based approach similar to other standards which have been reviewed, focused on ensuring that professional opinions provided to third parties are accurate, objective, transparent, and evidence‐based. 

The revised standard also removes a number of detailed provisions relating to communication, consent, recording consultations, file reviews, and financial influences. These matters are either addressed elsewhere within the Standards Framework or are considered sufficiently covered by the overarching requirements for objectivity, transparency, and evidence‐based professional judgement. 

Read the current Standard here and the proposed Standard here

In Aotearoa New Zealand, there is a unique cultural and relational context in which physiotherapists may, at times, be asked to assess, treat, or provide other physiotherapy services to whānau, family, or individuals whom they have a close relationship with.  

When providing physiotherapy services in these circumstances, physiotherapists must consider, reflect on, and apply sound reasoning to ensure that kiritaki rights are respected.  

In the event of a dispute or a complaint, health records may be the key source of information about what occurred in the physiotherapy kiritaki encounter.  

The Treatment of whānau, family members and others close to you standard has been in place since May 2018. The revision is part of the Board te Poari scheduled review process for Standards.  

The purpose of the review is to ensure that this Standard and the Board te Poari requirements relating to Providing physiotherapy services to whānau, family members and those close to the physiotherapist standard remain current, relevant and responsive to the needs of Aotearoa New Zealand’s diverse communities. 

The proposed revision moves away from a prescriptive expectation that physiotherapists should avoid treating whānau, family members, and those with whom they have a close personal relationship. Instead, it adopts a risk‐based approach that recognises the cultural and relational context of Aotearoa New Zealand, while placing clear expectations on physiotherapists to identify, justify, document, and appropriately manage potential risks. 

The key changes are outlined below: 

• Renaming the Standard to Providing physiotherapy services to whānau, family members and those close to the physiotherapist standard  
• Reformatting of the standard to align with the current Physiotherapy Standards Framework, including the addition of a purpose statement, defined terms, terminology guidance (“must” and “should”), a dedicated Te Tiriti o Waitangi section, and a clearer structure for practice requirements. 

The proposed revisions aim to establish a contemporary, culturally responsive and principles‐based standard that offers greater flexibility while strengthening accountability for decision‐making and documentation. 

And, to improve clarity and consistency with current legislation and Board te Poari requirements for physiotherapists.

Read the current Standard here

Section 7 of the HPCAA already protects physiotherapist titles by prohibiting the use of names, words, titles, initials, abbreviations, or descriptions stating or implying that a person is a registered physiotherapist unless that person is registered as a physiotherapist. It is not considered necessary to have a separate Standard to reiterate this point. 

Similarly, falsely stating or implying that a person is registered in the Physiotherapy Specialist or Advanced Practice Physiotherapist scopes is already prohibited and does not require a separate Standard addressing this point, even though Advanced Practice Physiotherapists are not addressed in the current Standard.

The Ministry of Health is responsible for enforcing the provisions of the HPCAA.

For clarity, the revocation of this Standard would not mean that a person would be permitted to call themselves a physiotherapist, Physiotherapy Specialist, or Advanced Practice Physiotherapist unless they were registered in those scopes. Nor would a person be permitted to use language that implied they held a registration if they did not hold that registration. 

The reason that this Standard is proposed for revocation is to simplify the Physiotherapy Standards Framework while ensuring that the public remain protected