Society Member Gus Muncaster is an experienced Sports Therapist who graduated from the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in 2009 and
is currently back there studying for an MSc in Sports Medicine. Earlier this year he found himself in need of advice and support from The Society of Sports Therapists.
Gus runs his own practice, Performa Therapy and he has also teamed up with two other therapists with their own practices and they work under the umbrella name, Injury Mechanics.
Gus has always taken a very professional approach to running his business, not least in the area of advertising and social media; if anything, he felt he had been over cautious. So, it came as quite a shock earlier this year for Gus to find himself under investigation by the HCPC.
Gus was well aware of the law relating to the misuse of the title Physiotherapist and Physical Therapist and he felt that he had been vigilant. When his two colleagues were approached by the HCPC regarding this issue he was very surprised but he didn’t feel he had anything to worry about. However, sure enough he too received an email and he found that he was cited on a number of points, regarding the misuse of the title Physiotherapist and Physical Therapist and legal action was threatened.
When Gus looked into it, he found that some of the issues mentioned had come from posts external to the practice. Two sites using ‘bots’ to collect data had used the word ‘physiotherapy’ in the text created about the clinic – Gus had not been aware of them.
A sports club that Gus had worked with several years ago had looked to promote his practice and had listed him under Physiotherapy as there wasn’t a drop-down box for Sports Therapy – this was a genuine error and caused a great deal of unnecessary distress for, not only Gus, but for the person who had placed the advert in genuine good faith.
Old posts are no defence either. Five years ago Gus had been at a sports event offering sports massage to athletes. In his Facebook post he had used #sports therapy and #physiotherapy as he was working with and supporting both sports therapy students and physiotherapy students. This was deemed unacceptable.
Text on his website was also called into question. Gus had wanted to emphasise the importance of the multidisciplinary team on his website. In the text he had listed physiotherapy along with other professions. The HCPC felt the exact wording was misleading and could imply that he was offering physiotherapy services.
Gus got in touch with the Society and the Chairman, Professor Graham Smith took up the case. He explained the situation to him and Professor Smith acted as mediator. Gus was able to follow up on the offending sites and Professor Smith liaised with the HCPC and worked with him on reworking some of the website text.
Gus was philosophical. He said, ‘ I suppose I was naive about how things get put on the internet and social media. Essentially, we’re clinicians not tech people, I’ve always known about physiotherapy being a protected title and the ramifications.
‘I had a lot going on in my life, together with a Pandemic, so this was the last thing I needed. I felt I was just trying to do my job and then getting threatened with legal action was very hard.’
Gus wanted to make clear that he doesn’t have an issue with any other profession, he simply wants to highlight how easy it is for something like this to happen and to save other Members from the stress he has suffered. He had some words of advice for Society Members:
‘This has been a real learning experience. I’m an insured Member of the Society, so having their support has been so important. If you find yourself in trouble, go straight to the Society, don’t try to sort it yourself, as you might tie yourself in knots. When Professor Smith was dealing with it, he was handling it without emotion. Whereas for me, it was very emotional being accused.
‘Learn to be vigilant with stuff online, make sure everything is clear on your website and social media and not open to misinterpretation. Double check your social media and other sites where you might be listed by crawler sites. All 3 of us felt we did things by the book but yet we all still got caught out. Going forward we are highlighting very clearly who we are and what we are.’
Society Chairman Professor Graham N. Smith, who had played such a key role in supporting Gus said:
‘One of the most important functions of the Society is to be in a position to help members when they’re faced with problems and need guidance and support. However, this function can only be fulfilled if Members bring it to the Society’s attention as early as possible, so that the appropriate experts can be brought in to advise. Thankfully, Gus came to the Society as soon as he had been contacted by the HCPC, rather than trying to deal with it himself and causing more problems that could be avoided with an early Society intervention.
‘The fact that Gus wanted to talk about what happened so that other Members could avoid the same ordeal, says a great deal about him as a person and as a Member.’