Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

Lead Physiotherapist

The closing date is 29 June 2025

Job summary

A rare and exciting opportunity has arisen to lead the Physiotherapy provision within Cumberlege Intermediate Care Unit (CICC). CICC is a 22 bedded Intermediate Care Unit which currently provides 14 stroke rehabilitation beds and 8 intermediate care beds. The long term bed provision is currently under consultation with proposal for either 22 stroke beds or 22 IMC beds. IMC patients have a range of medical conditions including fractures post fall, frailty, parkinsons and MS. We therefore require a skilled and experienced staff member in physical rehabilitation including assessing and treating patients with stroke/neurological diagnoses.

The successful candidate will work as part of a large and dynamic MDT, comprising of Physiotherapist, Occupational Therapists, Speech and Language Therapists, Nurses, Healthcare Assistants and Therapy Assistants.

Applicants who wish to work part time will be considered.

Main duties of the job

The post holder is a Senior Physiotherapist with specialist skills in assessment and treatment of complex frailty patients, stroke/neurological patients and community rehabilitation patients. They will be responsible for the provision, development and co-ordination of Physiotherapy within the Cumberlege Intermediate Care Centre (CICC).

Delivering a compassionate, dignified and respectful service to patients at all times and ensuring that the values outlined in the NHS Constitution are adhered to daily and any matters of concern are raised with the relevant Line Manager or through the necessary processes within the Trust.

About us

EPUT are looking for motivated staff who shares our Trust values of Care, Learn and Empower. In return, EPUT can offer you a range of benefits and development including;

  • Season Ticket Loans
  • NHS discounts for staff
  • Excellent Training facilities and opportunities
  • Buying and Selling annual leave scheme
  • The opportunity to work bank shifts and expand knowledge and experience in other areas
  • Salary Sacrifice schemes including lease cars and Cycle to Work
  • Day One Flexible Employer

The Trust supports and actively encourages flexible working for all employees. We offer many options and you are encouraged to ask the recruiting manager what is possible for this role. If appointed, you will have the opportunity to apply for a flexible working request from the first day of your employment

Join our Staff bank

What is Staff Bank?

Our EPUT NHS staff bank is an entity managed by the trust that hires clinical and non-clinical healthcare professionals to take on shifts at our trust hospitals and community settings. Here at EPUT we maintain our own bank of specialist staff to ensure that we are able offer safe and effective care at all times.

All our permanent staff are automatically enrolled onto the staff bank however this does not mean you have to work any additional shifts, but the option is there for you if you wish.

If you are joining our Trust in a fixed term role, please indicate on your New Starter Paperwork that you wish to join our staff bank.

Details

Date posted

13 June 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

Depending on experience Dependent on experience

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working, Compressed hours

Reference number

364-A-9088

Job locations

Cumberlege Intermediate Care Centre

Rochford Hospital

Rochford

SS4 1RB


Job description

Job responsibilities

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Provide expert physiotherapy input to patients within CICC with the aim to facilitate effective assessment and rehabilitation of intermediate care patients (Stroke/Frailty/IMC) encouraging independence and recovery.

  • Manage and co-ordinate a caseload of patients with complex conditions, including unstable fractures, complex neurological, frailty and stroke conditions.
  • To oversee care provision and ensure that accurate records and risk assessment are maintained and regularly reviewed
  • To provide expert leadership to Physiotherapy staff through support, supervision and appraisal

  • Work in close liaison with Social Services, Hospital Discharge Team, Community Contact Centre, other Rehabilitation providers and Commissioners to achieve and maintain smooth care pathways for patients
  • Work in conjunction with the Intermediate Care Matrons, Head of Intermediate Care and Commissioners on strategic development of IC services in line with future service changes
  • Assist in the collation of information to support the evaluation of services once commissioned.

Principle Duties and Responsibilities

  1. Service Provision

Ensure that rehabilitation opportunities are maintained and encouraged within CICC in order to support active rehabilitation programs for individual patients working collaboratively with all members of the team to achieve this.

Organise and maintain own diary and time to meet the demands of the Intermediate Care Service and clinical case load as well as supervision and support of other Physiotherapy Staff

Use and monitor use of IC services to ensure the best use is made of resources across the locality

Participate in weekly MDT meetings and daily board rounds to review individual patient progress within CICC and organise onward referral to external services as required

Contribute to service development through involvement in project teams and steering groups to provide expert operational advise to enhance decision making

Be responsible for advising on the resources necessary to fulfil patient needs and requirements as the service develops

Take responsible care of the health and safety of self and others, ensuring policies and procedures for maintaining the provision of a safe environment are adhered to

Support and assist staff across Intermediate Care to maintain practice in line with the Health and Safety at Work Act

Identify and report on practices and areas of work that may have risk management implications to ensure the safety of patients and colleagues

Ensure that all risk events are reported promptly and in co-ordination with the Service Manager investigate incidents and complaints. Identifying remedial action plans and ensuring that actions are implemented in a timely fashion

Ensure the completion of Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and Service Incident Reports (SI) if necessary, to ensure that if problems do arise they are analysed, managed and lessons are learnt as effectively as possible

Work in partnership with the Service Manager and Director of Integrated Services to ensure that where harm to patients has been identified, patients and or their families are informed accordingly, kept abreast of the investigation and are notified in writing of the findings of the investigation, in line with the Trusts Duty of Candour

  1. Clinical responsibilities

To work as a specialised and autonomous practitioner and be professionally and legally responsible for all aspects of work, including the clinical management of patients including unstable fractures and those with complex needs.

To provide high quality assessment and treatment for a wide variety of medical diagnoses including use of standardised assessments/outcome measures, within the Intermediate care setting

To have skills in falls prevention, neurological rehabilitation, orthopedic rehabilitation, complex discharge planning and community rehabilitation.

To use expert knowledge to analyse and interpret data from multiple sources, including standardised tests to inform clinical diagnosis

To use this assessment information to work with clients to identify client centred therapy goals as part of the overall multi-disciplinary care plan

To use knowledge and experience of clinical conditions, together with clinical judgment and reasoning skills, to determine a clients fitness for rehabilitation at the time of assessment

To implement, monitor, evaluate treatment plans and modify interventions in order to measure progress and outcomes to ensure effectiveness of intervention

Communicate with patients, relatives, carers and members of the multidisciplinary team by telephone, face to face, in writing or electronically to ensure that discharge takes place in a timely fashion

Use excellent interpersonal skill to effectively communicate discharge information to patients/relatives who may sometimes be hostile and emotional regarding the options available

Ensure appropriate information is available to patients, relatives and carers in order for them to understand their rehabilitation journey and make informed decisions.

Ensure accurate records are maintained to allow for the effective auditing and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions

Contributes towards development of specialist policies and procedures, to ensure the effective delivery of care for patients with Intermediate Care

Be responsible for implementing agreed policy related to IC and informing members of the multi professional team of any changes

Participate in research audit programs as appropriate, being aware of relevant research finding and there implications that relate directly to the service.

Be a credible role model, able to demonstrate good practice to junior staff to maintain local, national and professional standards

Lead/participate in training and education programs as required

Continue to update and develop own clinical/theoretical knowledge.

Participate in the supervision and written assessment of Physiotherapy/AHP students on practise placement with the organisation

Comply with the CSP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and local policies and procedures

  1. Professional Advice

Act as a specialist resource to IC staff offering specialist advice and help in all aspects of therapy

Lead/attend case conferences as appropriate, giving specialist advice and input as required

Attend multi-disciplinary meetings with other agencies involved in IC including Social Service, housing, Southend Hospital and Long Term Providers acting as the representative from IC ensuring accurate and timely information is available to facilitate patient care

Ensure effective partnership working with other services, notably other Intermediate Care Services, Wider Community Health Service GPs, Southend Hospital and Social Services

  1. Management Responsibilities

To provide line management to Physiotherapist within CICC and wider intermediate care services as appropriate.

Ensure effective staff management including adherence to policies and procedures to safeguard the well-being of patients and staff, to include staff appraisal and supervision, mandatory training, probationary and sickness policies

Identify staff training and development needs in order to ensure the workforce is fit for purpose and appropriately skilled to deliver the contracted activity, ensuring that care and compassion are central to all that we do and patients are treated with respect and dignity at all times.

Ensure staff receive feedback from audit, compliments and investigation of complaints to encourage staff to improve the patient experience

Participate together with the Service Manager to ensure effective utilisation of the resources, so as to remain within the allocated budget

Effectively manage resources including the skill mix and use of temporary staff.

Support the directorate in the implementation and achievement of CQUIN and CIP targets where necessary

Be responsible for the collection and collation of evidence to support CQC compliance

In liaison with the Service Manager set objectives for the delivery of care and rehabilitation within the unit and devise ways of implementing and monitoring these.

Deal appropriately with complaints, concerns and compliments related to intermediate care therapy provision across Intermediate Care

Participate in research and/or audit programmes relevant to IC/Stroke as necessary, disseminating findings at local level.

ADDITIONAL DUTIES

In addition to the above duties you will also be expected to perform the below key activities in line with your job role;

- Complete mandatory training in line with Trust policy and procedures

- To participate in the staff appraisal process and to undertake for any staff you manage

- To keep yourself updated on all matters relating to Trust policy

- To provide management supervision where appropriate

- You will be expected to work collaboratively with key partner organisations, service users, carers, clinicians and other practitioners within the multi-disciplinary team in delivering services; providing a 7-day a week, 24-hours a day service for 365 days a year working shifts, where appropriate and operationally required.

Job description

Job responsibilities

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Provide expert physiotherapy input to patients within CICC with the aim to facilitate effective assessment and rehabilitation of intermediate care patients (Stroke/Frailty/IMC) encouraging independence and recovery.

  • Manage and co-ordinate a caseload of patients with complex conditions, including unstable fractures, complex neurological, frailty and stroke conditions.
  • To oversee care provision and ensure that accurate records and risk assessment are maintained and regularly reviewed
  • To provide expert leadership to Physiotherapy staff through support, supervision and appraisal

  • Work in close liaison with Social Services, Hospital Discharge Team, Community Contact Centre, other Rehabilitation providers and Commissioners to achieve and maintain smooth care pathways for patients
  • Work in conjunction with the Intermediate Care Matrons, Head of Intermediate Care and Commissioners on strategic development of IC services in line with future service changes
  • Assist in the collation of information to support the evaluation of services once commissioned.

Principle Duties and Responsibilities

  1. Service Provision

Ensure that rehabilitation opportunities are maintained and encouraged within CICC in order to support active rehabilitation programs for individual patients working collaboratively with all members of the team to achieve this.

Organise and maintain own diary and time to meet the demands of the Intermediate Care Service and clinical case load as well as supervision and support of other Physiotherapy Staff

Use and monitor use of IC services to ensure the best use is made of resources across the locality

Participate in weekly MDT meetings and daily board rounds to review individual patient progress within CICC and organise onward referral to external services as required

Contribute to service development through involvement in project teams and steering groups to provide expert operational advise to enhance decision making

Be responsible for advising on the resources necessary to fulfil patient needs and requirements as the service develops

Take responsible care of the health and safety of self and others, ensuring policies and procedures for maintaining the provision of a safe environment are adhered to

Support and assist staff across Intermediate Care to maintain practice in line with the Health and Safety at Work Act

Identify and report on practices and areas of work that may have risk management implications to ensure the safety of patients and colleagues

Ensure that all risk events are reported promptly and in co-ordination with the Service Manager investigate incidents and complaints. Identifying remedial action plans and ensuring that actions are implemented in a timely fashion

Ensure the completion of Root Cause Analysis (RCA) and Service Incident Reports (SI) if necessary, to ensure that if problems do arise they are analysed, managed and lessons are learnt as effectively as possible

Work in partnership with the Service Manager and Director of Integrated Services to ensure that where harm to patients has been identified, patients and or their families are informed accordingly, kept abreast of the investigation and are notified in writing of the findings of the investigation, in line with the Trusts Duty of Candour

  1. Clinical responsibilities

To work as a specialised and autonomous practitioner and be professionally and legally responsible for all aspects of work, including the clinical management of patients including unstable fractures and those with complex needs.

To provide high quality assessment and treatment for a wide variety of medical diagnoses including use of standardised assessments/outcome measures, within the Intermediate care setting

To have skills in falls prevention, neurological rehabilitation, orthopedic rehabilitation, complex discharge planning and community rehabilitation.

To use expert knowledge to analyse and interpret data from multiple sources, including standardised tests to inform clinical diagnosis

To use this assessment information to work with clients to identify client centred therapy goals as part of the overall multi-disciplinary care plan

To use knowledge and experience of clinical conditions, together with clinical judgment and reasoning skills, to determine a clients fitness for rehabilitation at the time of assessment

To implement, monitor, evaluate treatment plans and modify interventions in order to measure progress and outcomes to ensure effectiveness of intervention

Communicate with patients, relatives, carers and members of the multidisciplinary team by telephone, face to face, in writing or electronically to ensure that discharge takes place in a timely fashion

Use excellent interpersonal skill to effectively communicate discharge information to patients/relatives who may sometimes be hostile and emotional regarding the options available

Ensure appropriate information is available to patients, relatives and carers in order for them to understand their rehabilitation journey and make informed decisions.

Ensure accurate records are maintained to allow for the effective auditing and evaluate the effectiveness of interventions

Contributes towards development of specialist policies and procedures, to ensure the effective delivery of care for patients with Intermediate Care

Be responsible for implementing agreed policy related to IC and informing members of the multi professional team of any changes

Participate in research audit programs as appropriate, being aware of relevant research finding and there implications that relate directly to the service.

Be a credible role model, able to demonstrate good practice to junior staff to maintain local, national and professional standards

Lead/participate in training and education programs as required

Continue to update and develop own clinical/theoretical knowledge.

Participate in the supervision and written assessment of Physiotherapy/AHP students on practise placement with the organisation

Comply with the CSP Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and local policies and procedures

  1. Professional Advice

Act as a specialist resource to IC staff offering specialist advice and help in all aspects of therapy

Lead/attend case conferences as appropriate, giving specialist advice and input as required

Attend multi-disciplinary meetings with other agencies involved in IC including Social Service, housing, Southend Hospital and Long Term Providers acting as the representative from IC ensuring accurate and timely information is available to facilitate patient care

Ensure effective partnership working with other services, notably other Intermediate Care Services, Wider Community Health Service GPs, Southend Hospital and Social Services

  1. Management Responsibilities

To provide line management to Physiotherapist within CICC and wider intermediate care services as appropriate.

Ensure effective staff management including adherence to policies and procedures to safeguard the well-being of patients and staff, to include staff appraisal and supervision, mandatory training, probationary and sickness policies

Identify staff training and development needs in order to ensure the workforce is fit for purpose and appropriately skilled to deliver the contracted activity, ensuring that care and compassion are central to all that we do and patients are treated with respect and dignity at all times.

Ensure staff receive feedback from audit, compliments and investigation of complaints to encourage staff to improve the patient experience

Participate together with the Service Manager to ensure effective utilisation of the resources, so as to remain within the allocated budget

Effectively manage resources including the skill mix and use of temporary staff.

Support the directorate in the implementation and achievement of CQUIN and CIP targets where necessary

Be responsible for the collection and collation of evidence to support CQC compliance

In liaison with the Service Manager set objectives for the delivery of care and rehabilitation within the unit and devise ways of implementing and monitoring these.

Deal appropriately with complaints, concerns and compliments related to intermediate care therapy provision across Intermediate Care

Participate in research and/or audit programmes relevant to IC/Stroke as necessary, disseminating findings at local level.

ADDITIONAL DUTIES

In addition to the above duties you will also be expected to perform the below key activities in line with your job role;

- Complete mandatory training in line with Trust policy and procedures

- To participate in the staff appraisal process and to undertake for any staff you manage

- To keep yourself updated on all matters relating to Trust policy

- To provide management supervision where appropriate

- You will be expected to work collaboratively with key partner organisations, service users, carers, clinicians and other practitioners within the multi-disciplinary team in delivering services; providing a 7-day a week, 24-hours a day service for 365 days a year working shifts, where appropriate and operationally required.

Person Specification

Education/Qualifications

Essential

  • BSc or Diploma in Physiotherapy with HCPC registration

Desirable

  • Member of CSP
  • Relevant post graduate qualification/training
  • Mentorship/ student supervision qualification

Skills/experience

Essential

  • Extensive experience of working in NHS community/intemediate Care setting
  • Extensive experience of working with various different physical health conditions e.g. orthopaedics, rehabilitation, frailty.
  • Extensive neurological/stroke assessment and rehabilitation skills
  • IT literate, with use of a range of packages including Word, Excel and PowerPoint
  • Excellent verbal, written communication skills and interpersonal skills
  • Experience of supervising staff

Desirable

  • Extensive experience working in and leading a multidisciplinary team
  • Experience and knowledge of using System One
  • Direct experience of triaging referrals and supporting patient flow

Personal Qualities

Essential

  • Ability to manage change and conflict
  • Current valid driving licence and access to car for work purposes
  • Excellent problem solving skills

Desirable

  • Ability to work both independently and part of team
  • Current valid driving licence and access to car for work purposes
Person Specification

Education/Qualifications

Essential

  • BSc or Diploma in Physiotherapy with HCPC registration

Desirable

  • Member of CSP
  • Relevant post graduate qualification/training
  • Mentorship/ student supervision qualification

Skills/experience

Essential

  • Extensive experience of working in NHS community/intemediate Care setting
  • Extensive experience of working with various different physical health conditions e.g. orthopaedics, rehabilitation, frailty.
  • Extensive neurological/stroke assessment and rehabilitation skills
  • IT literate, with use of a range of packages including Word, Excel and PowerPoint
  • Excellent verbal, written communication skills and interpersonal skills
  • Experience of supervising staff

Desirable

  • Extensive experience working in and leading a multidisciplinary team
  • Experience and knowledge of using System One
  • Direct experience of triaging referrals and supporting patient flow

Personal Qualities

Essential

  • Ability to manage change and conflict
  • Current valid driving licence and access to car for work purposes
  • Excellent problem solving skills

Desirable

  • Ability to work both independently and part of team
  • Current valid driving licence and access to car for work purposes

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).

Additional information

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Cumberlege Intermediate Care Centre

Rochford Hospital

Rochford

SS4 1RB


Employer's website

https://eput.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer details

Employer name

Essex Partnership University NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Cumberlege Intermediate Care Centre

Rochford Hospital

Rochford

SS4 1RB


Employer's website

https://eput.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Therapy Lead for Intermediate Care

Jo Harvey

joanna.harvey4@nhs.net

07949507213

Details

Date posted

13 June 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 7

Salary

Depending on experience Dependent on experience

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working, Compressed hours

Reference number

364-A-9088

Job locations

Cumberlege Intermediate Care Centre

Rochford Hospital

Rochford

SS4 1RB


Supporting documents

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