Controlled trial of an open-access physiotherapy service.

A randomized controlled trial of outpatient open-access physiotherapy was carried out at West Cornwall Hospital during 1979/80. The referral rate to consultant outpatient clinics for those patients offered open-access physiotherapy was considerably lower than for the control group (17 per cent and 56 per cent respectively). Patients using the service received physiotherapy promptly although this did not result in shorter treatments. Those of the control group who eventually received physiotherapy had faced considerable delays. An analysis of self-reported information showed that patients receiving open-access physiotherapy recovered more rapidly. Taken overall, the results support the concept of open-access physiotherapy.