BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Telephone triage and advice are increasingly important ways of managing primary care workload and improving patient access to healthcare services. The role of telephone advice in physiotherapy has not been explored in detail. The purpose of this study was to investigate patient satisfaction with physiotherapy telephone advice in addition to standard management for back pain. METHODS: A randomised controlled trial was conducted in two urban general practices (population 10,500 and 11,500) over five months. Patients with back pain who were referred by their general practitioner to physiotherapy were randomised into a control group who received usual care or an experimental group who received physiotherapy telephone advice before their usual care. Satisfaction levels were measured at the point of discharge from physiotherapy using the Patient Satisfaction with Healthcare Provider Scale. RESULTS: The experimental group expressed more satisfaction than the control group with the physiotherapy service received (p < 0.05). Physiotherapy telephone advice reduced reported symptoms associated with back pain and was easily remembered by the recipients. CONCLUSIONS: Telephone advice for back pain improves patient satisfaction with physiotherapy. It offers a 'new way' of providing physiotherapy care to patients in line with current NHS plans.

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