Last week, our Community Services received a visit from the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP), who arrived with a particular interest in learning about our community-based services that deliver Physiotherapy.

Professional Adviser for Yorkshire and Humber, Louise Egan, and Director of Practice and Development, Ashley James, visited with our colleagues from Urgent Community Response (UCR), Community Parkinson's service, Community Rehab Team, MSK and Children's services. They came to meet them and to chat about all the great stuff they do and also the challenges currently faced.

In a post on LinkedIn, Ashley said: "I expected to hear about increasing complexity and the breadth of expertise needed to respond to it. What came through particularly strongly, and will stay with me, was the emotional responsibility of this work.

"Community staff are sometimes the first professionals through someone’s front door. They see the circumstances in which people are living and can encounter very difficult situations. Alongside clinical assessment and decision making, they carry the emotional weight of what they have seen and the concerns they take away.

"The compassion of these teams was obvious. Listening to them also reinforced how important it is that staff have support, time to reflect and opportunities to talk through difficult experiences. A culture of care needs to extend to the wellbeing of the people delivering it.

"I left Calderdale encouraged by what I had heard and grateful for the honesty with which colleagues shared their experiences. There is much to learn from their approach to rehabilitation, their investment in students and staff, and the relationships connecting their services.

"Thank you to Hannah Wood and everyone who welcomed us. Your culture of care was palpable, in the way you spoke about patients, the way you valued each other and the ambition you shared for your services."

Associate Director of Therapies, Christine Beck, said: "I am incredibly proud that the CSP chose to visit our community services and hear directly about the amazing work taking place across our therapy teams in adults and children's services at CHFT.

"This visit, organised by Therapy Service Manager Hannah Wood, allowed CSP to see how our teams are passionate about delivering the best care for people, demonstrated how creative our teams have been in delivering services to support people in their own communities and doing this whilst also supporting each other. The visit was a wonderful opportunity to shine a light on the achievements we have made and continue to make as a team."