Welcome to the Portuguese Order of Physiotherapists!
With the taking of office, on 14 December 2021, of the social bodies of the Order, elected on 15 November, the Order of Physiotherapists considers itself, under the terms of Law 122/2019 of 30 September, effectively installed.
We are therefore at the starting point of a new challenge and a new organisation. One which can defend the citizen, support physiotherapists and build the future. But how?
I, and we, members of the Board of Directors, understand that the support to physiotherapists involves the valorization of the image of the professional as a problem solver, in articulation with others, in the best interest of the citizens. Physiotherapists should be responsible for creating conditions so that they themselves can define the best way to allocate resources according to the needs of the users, in an integrated perspective and continuity of care.
That physiotherapists are responsible for demonstrating the results of their intervention, supported by cost-benefit studies and evaluation of the levels of satisfaction by the citizens themselves.
We will also be, for physiotherapists and for the world, the competent authority for the recognition of professional qualifications for the exercise of the profession in our country. We will, at the same time, be the authority best prepared to contribute to the development and guarantee of quality in the teaching of physiotherapy, at its various levels. In this sense, the relationship of this Order with the Higher Education institutions will be crucial.
But we will also be there for the citizens, promoting their right to direct access to care provided by physiotherapists, making use of the possibility of referral by any health professional and also assuming the right and duty to, reciprocally, refer users to other health professionals, or to a more qualified physiotherapist, whenever the situation justifies it. The Order will, therefore, also look out for the best interests of its citizens and, for this reason, will be available to receive them.
In fact, the Order has to structure itself to be the Voice of the profession, a network of resources at the service of citizens and Physiotherapists, and an observatory of the reality in which the profession is inserted. We will therefore need the effort and commitment of the physiotherapists in giving their contribution, so we will make an additional effort to complete the registration of all. This is the only way to guarantee that our action will reflect the present and work for the future of all physiotherapists.
This Board is committed to implementing this ambitious project, together with the other elected bodies. We also count on the invaluable collaboration of the other professions, particularly those in the area of Health and its representative bodies, which have been established for longer and already have the knowledge that comes from experience. We will maintain the same spirit of collaboration, openness to dialogue and availability with everyone.
And, as the "hand" has been, symbolically, representative of physiotherapists,
Let's get to work!
Let's get to work!"
António Lopes
President of the Portuguese Order of Physiotherapists