Ahpra’s annual report for 2023–24 shows that 320 notifications were made about physiotherapists—an increase of nearly 45 per cent compared to the previous year. 

It’s important for physiotherapists to be aware of the common areas where risk can arise while practising. 

These include:

• miscommunication
• slips and falls
• treatment-related concerns. 

Whether you work in your own practice, a rehabilitation clinic or your patients’ homes, an incident could occur in nearly any setting you practise in. 

Miscommunication 

Consider a situation where you’re working with a patient who has a history of lower back pain. 

During the session, you instruct them to perform an exercise using a foam roller. 

However, the patient misunderstands your instructions and due to improper form and overexertion, experiences sudden and severe pain in their lower back. 

They later visit a doctor, who diagnoses a herniated disc. The patient attributes their injury to the physiotherapy session in a complaint against you. 

Miscommunication is a common area of risk that can lead to a claim. According to the 2023–24 Ahpra annual report, issues with communication was among the top three most common categories for complaints received. 

Practising effective communication can help reduce this risk. 

Slips and falls 

Let’s say you’ve taken steps to prevent slips and falls from occurring at your practice by checking that the floors are clean and dry and that any potential tripping hazards are removed each morning. 

Despite your best efforts, a patient trips over a treadmill cord and falls during a session, causing them to sprain their ankle. You receive a complaint from the patient weeks later. 

Whether or not the incident was caused by a direct failure on your part, you could be found liable. 

In BMS’s claims data from the APA member insurance program, there have been several incidents involving slips and falls that resulted in claims exceeding $20,000 in total losses. 

For example, in 2020, a patient slipped and fell from a balance beam during a physiotherapy session, causing serious injury. The incident resulted in losses of more than $25,000. 

If you run your own physiotherapy practice or practise as a sole trader, entity insurance—in addition to your individual professional indemnity and public and products liability cover under the APA member insurance program—may help mitigate the impact of claims resulting from slips and falls. 

Treatment-related concerns 

Imagine treating a patient for lower back pain, using a combination of manual therapy, exercises and education about posture. The patient does well for the first few sessions and reports feeling better. 

Then, while performing one of the exercises at home, the patient experiences an unexpected flare-up of pain. 

When the patient returns for their next session, they express frustration and disappointment, claiming that they’re now experiencing more pain than before and that the treatment isn’t working as expected. 

They believe you should have foreseen this possibility or provided clearer instructions on avoiding such flare-ups. '

The patient decides to make a complaint against you. Ahpra’s report for 2023–24 indicates that treatment-related concerns contributed to over 24 per cent of the complaints made about physiotherapists. 

BMS has seen claims due to treatment-related issues result in substantial losses. 

For example, in 2020, a patient injury during a physiotherapy assessment led to total losses of more than $200,000. 

Prevention is key 

Understanding the impact of these risks and how to mitigate them can help you to be prepared should a claim arise. 

Knowing your note-taking and record keeping professional obligations, for example, can play a pivotal role in claims management. 

BMS and the APA work together to provide APA members with risk mitigation resources. This includes articles in InMotion (generally available) and the APA’s Risk Mitigation Series (exclusively available to APA members).

Click here to read the 2023–24 Ahpra annual report and here to find out more about the Risk Mitigation Series. 

Disclaimer: BMS claims information is based on BMS’s claims data between 2019 and 2024. You must be a current Australian Physiotherapy Association (APA) member to be eligible to register for the APA Member Insurance program. You must be part of the APA Member Insurance program in order to access additional cover, which includes but is not limited to Entity Insurance. If your membership ceases you will not be offered renewal when your policy expires. In offering this insurance to our members the APA is a distributor of BMS Risk Solutions Pty Ltd (BMS) AFSL 461594, ABN 45161187980. The Professional Indemnity and Public & Products Liability insurance and Entity Insurance is issued by BMS on behalf of AAI Limited ABN 48 005 297 807 trading as Vero Insurance (the insurer). BMS acts on behalf of the insurer and not on your behalf. When acting under binder BMS acts as agent for the insurer and not as your agent. This is general advice only and BMS has not considered whether it was suitable for your personal circumstances, current objectives, needs or financial situation. Please read the Policy Wording and the BMS Terms of Engagement which contains the Financial Services Guide before making a decision about purchasing this policy. As a distributor, the APA may receive a percentage of the commission paid to BMS by the insurer and/or a fee per policy in offering this insurance to members. The APA receives an annual payment from BMS which is used for insurance related marketing and professional development activities to support our members.