Access to physiotherapy during Covid-19 Alert Level 3

There has been ongoing work between the Physiotherapy Board of NZ and the Ministry of Health (MoH) following the last lockdown in 2020, and the MoH has released revisions to the ‘COVID-19 Guidance for Community Allied Health, Scientific and Technical (AHST) Providers in Alert Level 3’.

The scope of ‘Urgent Care’ services for Alert Level 3 are as follows:

– a condition which is life or limb threatening; or
– treatment required to maintain the basic necessities of life; or
– treatment that cannot be delayed or carried out remotely without risk of significant harm or permanent and/or significant disability, or
– where failure to access services will lead to an acute deterioration of a known condition; or
– where delay in access to services will impact the consumer’s ability to maintain functional independence and significantly negatively impact quality of life
AND
– which cannot be delivered by a service which is currently operating or by clinicians that are already in contact with the patient for ongoing care.

More information is available here: COVID Alert Level 3 – Physiotherapy Board (physioboard.org.nz).