Rebirth and celebration for the ATOCP

Five years ago the CSP’s professional network for trauma and orthopaedics came close to closing down.  But since then the Association of Trauma and Orthopaedic Chartered Physiotherapists (ATOCP) has seen a remarkable renaissance.

Membership has surged to 800 and this year ATOCP was invited to join the British Orthopaedic Association’s (BOA) centenary celebrations at its annual congress in Birmingham. More than 85 ATOCP members took part and the association led a stream at the conference.

So what did we do to turn things around? We began with our name: the network used to be AOCP but we have added a ‘T’ to represent trauma. Our executive committee has been boosted, from five members in 2013 to 25 now. And last, but not least, we have launched a four-year strategy: our vision is ‘to be recognised as a world class network, facilitating evidence-based excellent patient care, in trauma and orthopaedic physiotherapy’. 

The newly established partnership between the BOA and ATOCP was the perfect opportunity to celebrate multidisciplinary team (MDT) working within the field of trauma and orthopaedics.

At the BOA Congress, the ATOCP sessions proved to be popular and interactive, with one session attracting 150 surgeons. Our third live debate, this year focusing on day-case knee surgery (see it online at the Physio Matters Facebook page), was extremely popular and generated an excellent discussion. 

ATOCP’s attendance at the BOA centenary was a resounding success. It provided a platform on which to celebrate the physiotherapist’s role within the MDT and we hope to be in Liverpool next September for the BOA’s 101st birthday.

Julie Blackburn, (right) team lead physiotherapist, and Jon Room, senior research physiotherapist and lecturer, are both vice-chairs of the ATOCP

More information

If you would like more information about ATOCP, please visit our site here.  Our BOA Annual Congress site can be found here and the chair of our network can be contacted at atocpchair@gmail.com;