Terms & Conditions

Our terms and conditions, fee structure and our business reference terms are reviewed regularly and the most up to date published on our website.

  1. Our Business

SP Therapy Services is a registered limited company. Registration number 04547163.

Registered Address 9 Gisburn Drive, Lowercroft, Bury, BL8 3DH.

Prior to 2015 SP Therapy Services traded as Susan Pattison Chartered Neurological Physiotherapist Ltd. Susan Pattison is the founder and owner of the business which has operated since 1998.

  1. Our Services

SP Therapy Services is a provider of specialist community physiotherapy to those persons with a neurological illness or injury this includes but is not exclusive to head injury, spinal cord injury, cerebral palsy Parkinson’s disease and MS.

More details of what we treat can be found at https://www.sptherapyservices.co.uk

All our team members both clinical and administrative have an up-to-date Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check. All our Physiotherapists have an enhanced check and are registered on the annual update services.

All our staff are employed and their professional activities as employees of SP Therapy Services are covered by the Medical Indemnity, Public Liability and Employers Liability Insurance, which is currently held with Royal Sun Alliance and is due to be renewed on 30.07.2024.

As a condition of employment all Physiotherapists are required to be a member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapists their individual membership provides Professional Liability Insurance and Public Liability Insurance valid until 30.06.2024.

We do not subcontract out any of our services to be provided by a 3rd party.

On referral the patient will have an allocated physiotherapist based on their skill set to meet the patient’s rehabilitation needs.

Occasionally we have undergraduate and post graduate Physiotherapy students on clinical placements with us at SP Therapy Services. The consent of the patient or their representative will be obtained before their involvement in the patient’s rehabilitation.

  1. Our Instruction

We accept enquiries from both case managed and self-funding patients via the professional referral form or self- referral form on our website, emailing info@sptherapyservices.co.uk  or telephoning 0161 764 3799

On receipt of an enquiry a Physiotherapist will make contact to discuss the individual patient’s needs.

We will provide a schedule of costs specific to the individual patient’s needs for the costs of an initial assessment. These costs will be provided in an email prior to intervention and agreement to our costs are requested via a direct reply to that email.

Prior to an initial assessment as a self-funder or case manager you are required to provide us with all the available information requested to enable us to provide you with our services safely.

For case managed patients prior to the initial assessment our professional referral form must be completed, https://www.sptherapyservices.co.uk/professional-referral-form/ and the funding agent must agree to our schedule of costs and our terms and conditions.

During treatment, for both self-funded and case managed patients we require the patient and or their referrer to provide the physiotherapist with information about changes in circumstances that may affect the patient’s ability to participate or fund our input.

Failure to do so will lead to the removal of our services until it is considered safe for us to return.

  1. Our Fees

Clinical Time

Clinical time is defined as time spent by the Physiotherapist in delivering an effective rehabilitation program and includes both contact and non-contact time. The writing up of treatment notes is part of our duty of care and is a part of the treatment session, when and where the Physiotherapist completes this is at the discretion of the Physiotherapist.

An up to date and full list of our business reference terms for invoiceable contact and non-contact clinical time is available on request.

Our recording and invoicing system works on units of 15 minutes and will appear on the invoice as or multiples of 0.25 (15minutes), 0.5 (30 minutes), 0.75 (45 minutes) and 1.0 (60 minutes).

Cancellation policy

24 hours’ notice is required for cancellation of a session. If less than 24 hours’ notice is given, please note that other than in excepting circumstances, the full session rate will apply.

Please support us to ensure chargeable cancellations are kept to a minimum by ensuring all staff and family involved are aware of their responsibilities to communicate cancellations as soon as practical.

Travel

We have Physiotherapists located in Manchester, Stalybridge, Blackburn, Bury, Huddersfield, and Barnsley, and the travel costs vary depending on where the Physiotherapist is based.

Our estimate of travel time and distance are based on a route planner at the time of enquiry. In practice it may be necessary to amend our original estimation. Any significant changes to the overall travel costs will be communicated.

Communicating our ongoing intervention and costs

For case managed patients we will provide a written treatment plan within 2 weeks of assessment. This treatment plan will include SMART goals, identify the proposed treatment plan and a schedule of costs to provide the plan for 3 months. An updated treatment plan will be provided every 3 months.

For self-funded patients at the initial assessment the Physiotherapist will discuss with the patient or their representative the proposed treatment plan and obtain verbal consent to proceed. For self-funded patients, verbal consent to any planned chargeable non-contact clinical time will be obtained by the Physiotherapist prior to completion.

  1. Confidentiality

The information shared with us to support a patient’s rehabilitation is sensitive and confidential and all employees at SP Therapy Services will treat all information about a patient with the utmost respect.

As treating physiotherapists, we have a professional responsibility and a duty of care to record information provided to us by the patient and or their representative.

If you do not wish us to disclose a piece of information you have provided to be included in our clinical record it is important you tell us. It will be the physiotherapist’s decision whether to record the information. If the information is recorded it will be marked REDACT to ensure if a patient’s clinical record is requested this information is not disclosed.

If we consider the information to mean that the patient and or persons working with the patient are at risk, we may be obliged under our duty of care to inform a person in a position to ensure the safety of the patient and or persons working with them.

  1. Data Protection & Privacy

SP Therapy Services complies with General Data Protection Regulations 2018 (GDPR18).

Website enquiry and referral forms

To facilitate our back of house services and minimise the information we collect personal data is collated via our online website referral forms.

The data provided is secure indicated by the padlock icon the address bar. Information is not stored on the website it is removed from the website as soon as practicable.

Our up-to-date privacy policy is available at https://sptherapysvcs.wpengine.com/privacy-statement/

Consent to collection and storage of data

During a patient’s rehabilitation it is necessary in order for us to fulfil our duty of care to obtain and store information about the patient.

This may include assessment forms, treatment records and e mails containing information about the patient’s rehabilitation. The information may be digital, photographic, or paper records. With the patients consent, this information may be shared with the patient’s litigation team, other Professionals involved in the patients care such as your GP & Case Manager to assist in rehabilitation planning and intervention.

A patient’s personal data and rehabilitation information is stored and disposed of securely in line with GDPR 18 and SP Therapy Services internal policies.

Personal data is never shared with external or third parties except as described above and will not be used for marketing purposes without your informed and written consent.

Photo Consent

Photographs and videos of a patient’s movements, parts of the body, equipment and the patient’s residence can provide an invaluable resource. They can be used to record progress or included in advisory sheets to inform family members or support staff engaged in the patient’s rehabilitation.

However, we will not take photographs or videos without the verbal consent of the patient, or their representative being sought at the beginning of every treatment sessions.

The patient and or their representative has the right to review the material taken and to air any objections at that time to the retention of any photograph or video without explanation.

Photographs and videos will not be used for any other purpose without your informed and written consent

Release of personal information we store about you

With the written and informed consent of the patient or their representative we will release copies of the information stored on our systems about the patient’s rehabilitation.

Requests for release of information should be directed to our Communications Coordinator, Emma Hayden, emma.hayden@sptherapyservices.co.uk

  1. Invoicing

Invoicing is on a month end basis.

Our payment terms are 14 days. Our preferred method of payment is BACS

Should you have a query about your invoice please contact SP Therapy Services Finance Director, ian.pattison@sptherapyservices.co.uk

  1. Delayed Payment

We are unable to accept referrals on a delayed payment basis.

Should a case manager or solicitor anticipate a delay in payment due to lack of interim funds then this must be communicated to SP Therapy Services Finance Director as soon as possible. Consideration will be given to both the ongoing need of the patient and of the needs of business before continuing with rehabilitation.

  1. Payment failure

Should an agreed date of payment be exceeded; treatment will cease immediately. Treatment will not be reinstated until outstanding payment is received.

In the event of a payment failure we will pursue this through the courts and reserve the right to charge interest on the outstanding amount and an administrative charge at a rate of £45.00 per hour.

  1. Termination of Our Services

A self-funded or case managed patient may withdraw from treatment at any time without reason or prejudice. However, cancellation of a prearranged appointment requires 24 hours’ notice as per our cancellation policy.

Should our services fall short of your expectations we would encourage you to speak direct to the Physiotherapist or to Susan Pattison, so we can learn from your feedback and respond as quickly as possible.

Alternatively, our complaints procedure can be found here link https://sptherapysvcs.wpengine.com/complaints-procedure/

Definition of terms used in this document:

Rehabilitation – Is a process of restoring a person lost skills due to illness of injury to optimise their quality of life and engagement in society. A Physiotherapist will assess the patient’s rehabilitation needs and identify a plan of input.

Patient – is a person undergoing rehabilitation. This person may be an adult or a child.

Physiotherapist – All our Physiotherapists are qualified Physiotherapists with a degree in Physiotherapy and membership of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. All our Physiotherapists are registered with the Health & Care Professions Council.

Their Representative – If a person due to illness or injury is unable to provide their informed consent their representative is someone present who has the capacity to decide on their behalf about their rehabilitation.