APA Focus Conference 2o22

Active are extremely proud of our team members who presented at the recent APA National Advisory Council meeting and the APA Business and Leadership conference, APA Focus 2022. After a two year Covid hiatus, it was great for our team to reconnect with some old friends and establish some new relationships. Jason Crow, Anthea Goslin and John Fitzgerald were honoured to present four papers at the conference, on a broad range of business and leadership topics.  It was a privilege to share our Active story and experiences with our physiotherapy colleagues.

 

Cultivating an Extraordinary Workplace Culture

Active’s CEO, John Fitzgerald, shares his beliefs about the importance of building an exceptional physiotherapy team:

‘An exceptional workplace culture cannot be left to chance but must be deliberately and strategically planned and, once attained, carefully nurtured. Workplace culture has an intangible, but significant, impact on business and healthcare outcomes and user and provider experience. Leaders need to employ both deliberate strategies and instinctive styles to build a positive culture, or workplace ‘personality’, where team members feel safe, respected and heard.’

At the APA Focus 2022 Conference, John shared Active’s 10 Top Tips for building an extraordinary workplace culture.

 

Taking Physiotherapy to the World – How to influence an entire nation of physiotherapists

Active have been privileged, for many years, to support the clinical immersion programs of UQ and ACU in Timor Leste. John Fitzgerald, Active’s CEO spoke at the APA Focus 2022 Conference, on how relationships in Timor Leste, forged over time as part of these programs, have matured into mutually beneficial opportunities for cultural and clinical exchange.

‘The healthcare impacts of the student-led clinics in Timor have been astounding and unexpected. Students and Educators are well received by local health care providers and their patients, whilst benefiting themselves from their experiences in a different country and culture.’ 

Active are looking forward to returning to Timor in 2023, after a 3 year Covid-related hiatus.

 

‘The Holy Grail – a clinical governance framework for new physios’

At the APA Focus 2022 Conference, Jason Crow, Active’s Outpatients Manager, outlined Active’s novel approach to on-boarding team members.

‘Private practitioners commonly state that young physios are not work-ready and make mistakes. The holy grail is to support new team members to provide high-quality consistent care, while keeping on-boarding costs low, physios productive and minimising business and reputational risk. Generic training programs often miss the mark. As an adjunct to our standard training program of clinical and professional mentoring and practical skills development, we have developed a structured quality framework, spanning the patient journey. The framework provides ongoing support for new clinicians that doesn’t end after the first few months, and doesn’t only benefit newly graduated physios. It allows us to focus on conditions most commonly treated and accommodate our business idiosyncrasies, such as referrer protocols and preferences.’

 

Leadership Development – more than just training

Anthea Goslin, Active’s Director of Clinical Services, shared Active’s experiences with Leadership Development in a ‘How To’ presentation at the APA Focus 2022 Conference.

‘At Active, we have adopted a customised, comprehensive approach to developing new and existing leaders, as well as mindfully building a leadership pipeline. Business owners intrinsically understand that leadership development has the potential to increase team retention and engagement, reduce attrition, support the ongoing personal growth of established leaders, cement positive cultural norms and attract talented new employees. While external leadership training courses/programs have merits, one-size-fits-all approaches do have some significant limitations.’