Blog

In July 2013, Physiokinetic turned 10 years old.  The first blog of the new Physiokinetic website allows us to tell you what we are about; who we are striving to be.

It still sounds strange to say ‘I am a company director’, even more so when adding ‘and have been for the last decade’.  It would be easy to consider this a success, having survived the deepest recession in most people’s lifetime.  But is survival success?

It’s fair to say that most people who start their first company would probably admit they know far more about the process after 5 years than at the start, more again after 10 than 5.  But when you start with that blank piece of paper and an idea, there is a clarity and enthusiasm unaffected by all that is to come that shouldn’t be ignored.  In fact, I would argue that whilst the details and minutiae may have developed and now look different, our initial vision remains the same 10 years later: deliver quality, consistently.  It sounds simple, but isn’t.

The human body is incredibly complex and yet makes very complicated things look easy, which is a neat trick (and has a lot to do with evolution and an increasingly complex central nervous system).  It can find alternate ways of doing things when faults develop, sometimes without even letting the owner know.  Sometimes they will never find out, as long as the compensation copes with the demands placed on it.  In other cases, the demands win and the body starts to flag up the issue - months, even years later, often in a different location altogether from the cause.  

The physiotherapist who is aiming to deliver a quality service has to have a deep knowledge and holistic understanding of the body -  the way it works, how it breaks, how it compensates.  They must then be able to apply this understanding to the individual’s unique functional requirements (sporting/working/day to day) and how their recovery may or may not be affected by their general health as well as psychological status/outlook, past injury/illness experiences, their fears and expectations.  And all that is done before getting down to fixing it!  ‘Delivering quality, consistently’ means being able to repeat this process for every individual who walks through our doors.  

The point is, the job is complex and requires a high amount of skill, experience and know-how.  Even then, it might not be enough to meet the aforementioned vision.  Good physiotherapists have to be able to connect with their patient (a process which changes parameters with each client). If one is not able to develop the right working relationship with an individual, then it will not be as successful a process as is possible.  We strive to create the best possible outcome in each case.  

It is great that Physiokinetic is 10 years old and that it continues to grow.  Our focus must not be diverted though.  ‘Delivering quality, consistently’ is an easy thing to say.  In practice, it takes a lot of hard work, focus, hunger to continue to learn, and recognition of where we need to improve in order to deliver it.  10 year survival is a success of sorts and we are genuinely proud of it.  But it’s more about the little successes each day for us.

For more information about the Physiokinetic team, go to the Team tab at the top of the Home page of our website, www.physiokinetic.co.uk

Mike Gosling, Physiotherapist and Director of Physiokinetic