Physiotherapy Consultant (MSK)

Job responsibilities

Expert Clinical Practice

The post-holder will:

Possess highly developed specialist knowledge through Masters level study and have significant experience in relevant specialist area of practice

Be responsible for the management of a complex clinical caseload, providing an advanced level of clinical judgement, knowledge and experience with their exceptionally high level of clinical expertise exemplifying good practice in the assessment, diagnosis and treatment of musculoskeletal conditions.

Be able to impart unwelcome news to patients about rehabilitation prospects.

Take professional and legal responsibility for their own clinical actions, exercising a high degree of personal professional autonomy involving highly complex facts or situations in order to implement an appropriate and timely management strategy for patients.

Be responsible for delivering a whole system patient focused approach, working with the multidisciplinary team throughout the healthcare community to facilitate seamless patient care.

Be responsible for the provision of an expert advice service within the musculoskeletal field for clinicians, managers and other health professionals.

Demonstrate manual therapy skills and perform manual handling tasks involving patients and equipment.

Create and develop protocols of care and design patient care pathways with the aim of providing best practice examples to others either within the region or nationally.

Assess, monitor, report and manage clinical risk.

Respond to frequent changes of priority when multiple demands are made on time, due to an unpredictable work pattern on a daily basis.

Professional Leadership and Consultancy

The post-holder will:

Work according to the Health Professions Council Standard of conduct, the Chartered society of Physiotherapy code of conduct, local policies and service standards.

Provide professional effective leadership to musculoskeletal physiotherapy professionals within the Trust, acting as a role model and positive influence to MSK professional practice.

Be an advocate for advanced practice and lead on the development, education and governance of these roles inclusive (but not exhaustive) of the First Contact Practitioner, South Warwickshire Integrated Musculoskeletal Service, orthopaedic practitioners, pain service and Musculoskeletal outpatient physiotherapy clinicians.

Be recognised as an expert within their speciality, service or field and ensure that locally endorsed standards are evidence-based to reflect the very best available practice.

Establish and lead on enhancing the mechanisms of measuring the quality of the musculoskeletal services, thereby contributing to the clinical governance and corporate agenda.

Demonstrate excellent and persuasive communication skills including the ability to listen and accurately represent the views of others, together with the ability to tailor language to the needs of the particular professional or patient group, for example, when gaining informed consent.

Possess expert negotiating and influencing skills to support clinical services and make case for change.

Enable, empower and motivate patients, carers and colleagues through empathy, understanding of their perspective and support.

Challenge current structures and identify organisational and professional barriers which limit/inhibit services.

Act as a specialist resource to other professional teams within the health care community, with the aim of promoting effective service delivery and sharing good practice. The post holder will inspire others (including other staff groups and organisations) to deliver the optimum quality of care within the specialist field and beyond.

Actively participate in networks for consultant allied health professionals and musculoskeletal allied health professional specialists.

Education and Training

The post-holder will:

Be responsible for the strategic development of teaching and learning strategies across musculoskeletal services for Physiotherapists as well as the delivery of specialist training as part of this role.

Promote and facilitate a learning culture that encourages reflection, evidencebased practice and work based learning in order that others may develop to their full potential across musculoskeletal services.

Develop and lead the education strategy for physiotherapists and identify learning needs for staff within the musculoskeletal field to support service modernisation, improved practice, enhanced roles and evidence-based practice. The education strategy should link at a national level to serve national health policy and at a local level to ensure links with universities and education providers.

Provide learning opportunities for health professionals and others via established links to higher education institutions including acting as a mentor or supervisor.

Act as a mentor or supervisor for post-graduate students undertaking university courses and contribute to educational policy in the specialist field for post qualifying practitioners.

Link with the ICB, ICS national organisations and professional bodies, universities and higher education institutes, to develop and facilitate learning opportunities and education programmes for musculoskeletal clinical specialist practitioners.

Provide education in their specialist field of clinical expertise locally, regionally and nationally by lecturing or through publishing research in professional journals.

Develop and maintain a library of appropriate information for specialist practitioners and to support production of appropriate patient information.

Maintain his/her own continuing education via internal and external courses and conferences and via completion of an ongoing professional portfolio.

Participate in an annual appraisal to evaluate and develop existing role.

Practice and Service Development

The post-holder will:

Ensure that practice development is evidence-based.

Contribute to the development of specialist musculoskeletal services, develop protocols and guidelines underpinned by evidence, audit the service provided and identify, implement and manage changes to improve patient care.

Work with the Outpatient Pathway Leads to identify and make opportunities for service re-design and establish effective project management and project teams in order to make a real difference to health and services for patients.

Have a major influence in the development and provision of cross-boundary working.

Liaise with other services within the healthcare community in both primary and secondary care (including pain management and rheumatology) to improve patient access and seamless patient care, and avoid duplication of activity.

Be able to process complex, sensitive or contentious information, leading to the development of strategic plans, which will drive change within and across the Trust and its partners.

Contribute to strategic planning and innovation for the service by expanding and developing practice and drive forward local implementation of relevant national policy. This includes interpretation of clinical, professional and national policies in the specialist musculoskeletal field and gives advice to the organisation with regards to service development and improvement.

Qualifications

Essential

• HCPC registration as Physiotherapist
• Relevant Masters Degree & Postgraduate education beyond MSc level
• Injection therapy qualification
• Independent prescriber
• Leadership qualification or evidence of leadership training/skills development

Desirable

• Teaching qualification
• Working towards or attained Level 8 higher education qualification (e.g., PhD).

Experience

Essential

• Extensive specialist knowledge of the care and management of musculoskeletal patients in primary and secondary care
• Experience in leading and managing clinical teams
• Understanding of the relevant NHS policies and their implications for local services
• Understand and relate research/ study findings to the clinical situation
• Present information in a variety of formats and uses data to inform reports
• Demonstrable experience in managing complex MSK cases and advanced clinical interventions.
• Proven track record in service development, including strategic planning and implementing new services or clinical pathways.

Desirable

• Experience in clinical research, audits, or contributions to evidence-based practice.

Skills

Essential

• Expert clinician with advanced clinical reasoning and manual therapy skills
• Experience of working within complex organisations
• Evidence of clinical leadership skills including influencing and achieving change and professional development of others
• Effective communication skills at all levels with a variety of audiences
• Able to communicate highly complex and sensitive information with empathy
• Ability to manage a complex, diverse and demanding workload
• Manage change and contain conflict, ensuring resolution with positive outcomes
• Articulate a vision for musculoskeletal services
• Experience in anatomically guided injection therapy

Desirable

• Advanced IT skills for data analysis, service reporting, and presentation.

Personal Qualities

Essential

• Able to secure the co-operation of colleagues at all levels
• Ability to engage and foster collaborative working with stakeholders and partners within and across organisations
• Goal orientated evidence of completion of tasks
• Innovative demonstrates a creative/lateral-thinking approach
• Able to access expert advice and resources within organisations (network)
• Able to work outside traditional boundaries to implement a "whole system approach"
• Commitment to maintaining professional standards and ethics.

Other

Essential

• Access to independent means of transport
• Able to commit to travel across South Warwickshire to provide supervision in a variety of settings as required

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).

UK Registration

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