Feasibility of introducing specialised vestibular physiotherapy in the Emergency Department - Dizzy PT

The intervention element of this project will involve a specialised vestibular trained Physiotherapist assessing and treating patients presenting to the emergency department with dizziness/vertigo/imbalance in the emergency department(ED). This is a novel service delivery approach. The intervention will be completed by a senior physiotherapist with more than 5 years experience and post-graduate training in vestibular physiotherapy. The intervention period will run for an 8 week block and the interventions will be performed in the ED. The assessment and subsequent treatments that patients will recieve are based upon the Clinical Practice Guideline: Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (Update) Bhattacharyya et al 2017. The interventions will consist of a one off assessment anticipated to be 30-60minutes in duration, with treatments as indicated by the assessment findings. Treatments that are likely to be provided included positioning techniques and rehabilitation exercise prescription. Patients will also be referred for follow-up assessments as per clinical practice guideline recommendations. Fidelity of interventions will be monitored by use of and recording on standardised assessment forms as well as a consistent interventional therapist.