Physio tech company launch free service to help cope with impact of working from home

AN Edinburgh-based physiotherapy tech company is offering free access to its digital treatment service.

The initiative, from PhysioWizard, allows the public and their employers to access the self-assessment tool and explore options for treating muscle and joint pain.

The company say that millions of workers currently operating from home could be creating a “backlog of neck and back pain complaints”, which the NHS will have to deal with.

However, PhysioWizard say their digital triage scheme can help ease this burden, by providing 10 minute self assessments and referring them to the appropriate service.

Since the introduction of the Coronavirus lockdown, the proportion of people working from home has risen to 38%.

Prior to this, back pain complaints were already one of the largest causes of GP visits and typically account for 19 days off work, according to the company.

As a result, the company are providing three months of free access to their service starting from today.

Kirsten Lord, founder of PhysioWizard said: “I founded this company to give people with pain, disability or fear easy access to simple and effective information, so helping people with back and neck pain caused by working from home and accelerating their recovery, is core to our mission.

“Delivering healthcare using digital tools will help manage the risks associated with community transmission.

“There is no better time to use technology to care for people than now. Every person that receives an assessment with PhysioWizard is one less appointment in the NHS.

“This will help to manage people quickly and prevent a backlog from building up.”

The company say they receive no fees for referral, and simply want to help solve the “back pain emergency”.

Chief Executive Andrew Byers added: “Our mission is to get help for sufferers; to speed up response times; and to reduce the strain on scarce NHS resources.

“We normally provide our service to large occupational health companies for a fee but because of the pressures created by COVID-19 we believe it’s the right thing to make our online solution available.”