Checking physiotherapists

I turned up for my regular physiotherapy appointment today and was told that we would ‘have to be supervised’, because my therapists’ CRB check had not come through. He had already had three checks, and because he was from China the whole thing was probably a waste of time, but still, anybody receiving medical treatment is classified as a ‘vulnerable adult’ and therefore requires CRB protection.

A couple of things struck me about the situation. First, the gap between the CRB system and social reality – on one plane there are the official models of potential abusers and people requiring protection; on the other, the reality of therapist and patient in a busy treatment ward. Second, was the way in which people obey CRB requirements in letter but not in spirit – the therapist left the curtain half open, so as strictly to comply with the requirement that he should be ‘supervised’, but of course one of the other physiotherapists had the time or the inclination to be peering over his shoulder.

The attempt for the state to pre-regulate social encounters has created an other-worldly system, which exists almost in a different dimension to everyday life – and which, thankfully, we often obey in a half-hearted and minimal fashion.