Table 1 Task categories

Assessment

Tasks that involve assisting with assessment of patient performance or health. This may include objective assessment (e.g. walking speed, performance of activities of daily living, feeding) or subjective assessment (e.g. asking patients to report on their health/function).

Treatment

Any form of therapy provided to the patient including education.

Complex cases

Tasks that require specialist training or oversight to provide (e.g. assisting physiotherapist with patients who require two people to transfer, inspection/management of scars, monitor a patient’s splint).

Clinical reporting

Any form of clinical documentation or clinical handover to allied health, nursing or medical professionals.

Discharge planning

Assisting with discharge planning processes, including sourcing accommodation vacancies, organising support services, organising follow-up community therapy, assisting with home visit, and assisting with referrals.

Equipment and environment

Provision or maintenance of equipment including wheelchairs, frames, pressure care and other assist devices. This also includes ordering clinical equipment for the department and maintenance of the clinical environment (e.g. cleaning equipment, testing hydrotherapy pool chemistry).

Supervision

Tasks that involve supervision/training of AHAs, staff or students, or attending own supervision/training.

Research and quality

Any task related to research or quality improvement projects.

Administration

Any non-clinical administration task (e.g. organising outpatient appointments, engineering requests, typing meeting minutes, attendance at department meetings).

Transition between tasks

Travel between tasks (i.e. walking, driving) or time spent waiting in-between delegated tasks