Work Injury and ReturnToWorkSA Physiotherapy

A work injury is two problems at once. There is the injury, and there is the claim — the forms, the plans, the reports, the employer conversation and the return-to-work timetable. Getting the first one right is our job. Not making the second one harder is part of it.

We treat workplace injuries and work within the ReturnToWorkSA scheme, preparing the physiotherapy management plans the scheme requires, with measurable goals and progress reporting to the parties who need it.

What we treat

• Lifting and manual handling injuries — lower back, shoulder, neck
• Repetitive strain from production, trade and keyboard work
• Slips, trips and falls at work
• Crush, sprain and fracture rehabilitation once medically cleared
• Aggravation of a pre-existing condition by work duties
• Postural and workstation-driven neck and back pain

ReturnToWorkSA claims

If your claim has been accepted, bring your claim number, your employer's details and your referral. We prepare a physiotherapy management plan setting out the treatment, the expected number of sessions and specific, measurable goals — the SMART format the scheme requires — and we report progress against them.

Where extended treatment is needed, we apply for it with the clinical reasoning attached rather than a bare request. Where the plan is not working, we say so, because a plan that quietly runs its course without change helps nobody.

Graded return to work

Returning to work is part of recovery, not something that happens after it. For most musculoskeletal injuries, a graded return on modified duties produces better outcomes than waiting at home until you are fully recovered, and the longer someone is away from work the harder returning becomes.

That means being specific about what you can and cannot do — the actual weight, the actual reach, the actual hours — rather than issuing a blanket restriction. We write those capacities in terms your employer can roster around.

If you are not on a claim

Many work-related aches never become a claim, and that is fine. Treatment is available as a standard private appointment, claimable on private health extras. If the problem has become persistent, ask your GP about a Chronic Condition Management Plan — those sessions are fully bulk billed, with no gap and no out of pocket cost.

Employers wanting to get ahead of this rather than react to it should look at our corporate health work.

Common questions