Chest physiotherapy for mechanically ventilated children: a survey of current UK practice

•This is the first study to describe chest physiotherapy practice for mechanically ventilated children within the UK.•Manual hyperinflations, position changes, chest wall vibrations and endotracheal tube saline instillation were reported as the most frequently used treatments. DNase and, 3% and 7% hypertonic saline were the most frequently used mucoactives.•Variation was apparent and further investigation is required to determine best practice.•Clinical decision making processes were comparable between physiotherapists and encompassed three main elements; individual patient assessment, involvement of the multi-disciplinary team, and risk versus benefit analysis