First Contact Physiotherapist

Job responsibilities

• Ensure clinical quality is measured and maintained.
• Communicate with the team including organising team meetings and training.
• Attend CAT.
• Ensure protocols and policies relevant to their team are in place, followed and update.
• Provide leadership for team members including supporting training and development needs.
• Support the Clinical Director, PCN Manager and CAT.
• Take professional responsibility as a first contact physiotherapist, with high-level decision-making and clinical-reasoning skills to assess, diagnose and triage of patients.
• Work independently, without day to day supervision, to assess, diagnose, triage, and manage patients, taking responsibility for prioritising and managing a caseload of the PCNs Registered patients.
• Manage a complex caseload (including patients with long term conditions, co-morbidities and multi-factorial needs).
• Receive patients who self-refer (where systems permit) or from a clinical professional within the PCN, and where required refer to other health professionals within the PCN.
• Lead, manage and contribute to service delivery, including attending Practice meetings and other meetings (e.g. PPG/ICS) as appropriate to report on workstream.
• Encourage collaborative working across the wider health economy and be a key contributor to supporting the development of physiotherapy clinical services across the PCN.
• Liaise with secondary and community care services, and secondary and community MSK services where required, using local social and community interventions as required to support the management of patients within the PCN; and support regional and national research and audit programmes to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of the First Contact Practitioner (FCP) programme. This will include communicating outcomes and integrating findings into own and wider service practice and pathway development.
• Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team in a patient facing role, using their expert knowledge of movement and function issues, to create stronger links for wider services through clinical leadership, teaching and evaluation.
• Develop integrated and tailored care programmes in partnership with patients, providing a range of first line treatment options including self-management, referral to rehabilitation focussed services and social prescribing.
• Make use of their full scope of practice, developing skills relating to independent prescribing, injection therapy and investigation to make professional judgements and decisions in unpredictable situations, including when provided with incomplete or contradictory information. They will take responsibility for making and justifying these decisions.
• Manage complex interactions, including working with patients with psychosocial and mental health needs, referring onwards as required and including social prescribing when appropriate.
• Communicate effectively with patients, and their carers where applicable, complex and sensitive information regarding diagnoses, pathology, prognosis and treatment choices supporting personalised care.
• Implement all aspects of effective clinical governance for own practice, including undertaking regular audit and evaluation, supervision and training.
• Request and progress investigations (such as x-rays and blood tests) and referrals to facilitate the diagnosis and choice of treatment regime including, considering the limitations of these investigations, interpret and act on results and feedback to aid patients diagnoses and management plans.

Qualifications

Essential

• Mandatory registration with Health and Care Professional Council.
• Member of The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy.
• Has completed an undergraduate degree in Physiotherapy.
• Masters degree or the equivalent specialist knowledge, skills and experience.

Desirable

• May hold or be working towards a prescribing qualification.

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Dependable.
• Proactive.
• Able to work under pressure.
• Able to cope with conflicting pressures and meet deadlines.
• Self-confident.
• Able to work on own initiative and as part of a team.
• Self-motivation.
• Adaptable/flexible.
• Team Player.
• Ability to see the bigger picture.
• Value and be considerate of others opinion/contributions.
• Full driving licence and use of vehicle.

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Can demonstrate working at Level 7 capability in MSK related areas of practice or equivalent (such as advanced assessment diagnosis and treatment).
• Can demonstrate ability to operate at an advanced level of practice.
• Demonstrates general physiotherapy skills and knowledge in core areas.
• Is able to plan, manage, monitor, advise and review general physiotherapy care programmes for patients in core areas, including diseases/long term conditions identified by local needs assessment.
• Demonstrates accountability for delivering professional expertise and direct service provision.
• In depth therapeutic and clinical knowledge and understanding of the principles of evidence based healthcare.
• An understanding of the nature of GPs and general practices.
• Excellent interpersonal, influencing and negotiating skills.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Demonstrates understanding of the physiotherapy role in governance and is able to implement this appropriately within the workplace.
• Can operate as a full member of the primary care team, including contributing to leadership, service evaluation and research activity.
• Can manage and co-ordinate care that individual patients receive, including through liaising with other members of the MDT and with patients/carers.
• Can lead primary care activity, with a strong emphasis on prevention and early intervention, including through delivery of public health advice (e.g., relating to physical activity, weight management and smoking cessation).
• Contributes to the use of healthcare technologies to optimise the integration of service delivery and patients access and continuity of care.
• Contribute to the development of primary care teams, including through contributing to others learning.
• Good IT skills.
• Able to obtain and analyse complex technical information.
• Recognises priorities when problem solving and identifies deviations from the normal pattern and is able to refer to seniors or GPs when appropriate.
• Able to work under pressure and to meet deadlines.
• Gain acceptance for recommendations and influence/ motivate/ persuade the audience to comply with the recommendations/ agreed course of action where there may be significant barriers.
• Work effectively, independently and as a team member.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).