Why Physiotherapy is Crucial During an Acute Hospital Stay.
Working alongside your specialists to deliver safe, personalised rehabilitation during your hospital admission.
When you or a loved one are admitted to hospital for acute care, whether it is for an unexpected medical emergency, a sudden illness, or major surgery, your mind is naturally focused on the immediate medical crisis. Doctors prescribe medications, nurses monitor your vitals, and the immediate medical needs are managed.
But there is another vital part of your recovery team working behind the scenes to get you back on your feet: your allied health team, and specifically your physiotherapists.
Many people assume that physiotherapy only begins after you leave hospital and head home. In reality, starting physiotherapy while you are still in your acute care bed can significantly change how quickly and how well you recover.
The Hidden Toll of Bed Rest
While resting in a hospital bed is a necessary part of healing, staying still for too long can cause secondary complications surprisingly quickly. Within just a few days of complete bed rest, muscles begin to lose strength, lung capacity can decrease, and your circulation slows down.
Our role in the acute hospital setting is dynamic and tailored entirely to how you are feeling each day. We focus on three main areas to help you stay strong:
Cardio-Respiratory Care: If you are recovering from a major surgery or a severe respiratory illness, we use specialised breathing exercises to keep your lungs clear and prevent post-operative chest infections.
Early Mobility and Strength: We assist you with safely sitting up, transferring to a chair, and walking as early as it is medically safe to do so. Even small movements help maintain your joint flexibility and muscle tone.
Tailored Discharge Planning: We assess your balance and stability so we can plan timely, appropriate discharge solutions, whether that means returning straight home safely or transitioning to an inpatient rehabilitation hospital.
Best Practice Guided by Your Personal Goals
We believe that true quality and safety in healthcare come from listening to you. Our direction of care is always guided by the goals you identify in consultation with our team. We select interventions that are proven to be safe, effectual, and deeply appropriate to you as an individual.
To maintain these high standards, our team actively reviews best practice benchmarks. We blend our collective knowledge with the experiences of our St Andrew’s Hospital peers, colleagues, and consultants. We treat your progress as a living conversation, assessing it daily and making it a priority in our regular team meetings.
A Collaborative Approach: Supporting the Doctors at St Andrew’s
Recovery is never a solo effort. It requires a tightly coordinated team that seamlessly blends into the hospital's fabric. Our team works hard to provide you with an experience typified by a unified team approach, proudly reflecting the compassionate culture of St Andrew’s.
Most importantly, our physiotherapists work in close partnership with the medical staff. We are proud to provide comprehensive, trusted mobility and rehabilitation support to all of the doctors at St Andrew’s.
Since 2015, our patient care teams have been demonstrating the high quality of care possible right here at the hospital. Our persistent service routine and calm demeanour ensure effective management of a wide variety of complex conditions, even while accommodating the pressures of a busy, fluctuating hospital workload. Our consistent care is backed by strong clinical statistics and a trusted reputation among our medical peers.
Tailored Programmes
We know that a high level of physical reconditioning requires bespoke care. A proud example of this innovation over the last twelve months is our dedicated programme for chemotherapy patients. We introduced specialised education on the confirmed importance of exercise in maintaining physical function during cancer treatment, especially in our senior years. By providing tailored exercise programmes, we directly increase your capacity to achieve your daily activities and maintain your independence.
Furthermore, we are continually evolving our services to support the hospital's ongoing development. This includes establishing professional partnerships with community-based rehabilitation providers, ensuring that you have access to professionally designed exercise sessions that allow your rehabilitation to continue smoothly and confidently long after you leave the hospital ward.
Healing Begins on Day One
An acute hospital stay can feel overwhelming, but you are not alone in your recovery. By introducing physiotherapy early in your admission, we help protect your strength, support your respiratory health, and pave a clearer, faster path back to your normal routine.
If you are currently receiving our services, or if you have an upcoming stay at St Andrew's, remember to ask your doctor about incorporating our physiotherapy team into your care plan from day one.