First Contact Physiotherapist

NHS; Aylesbury; On-site; GBP 35,000 - 55,000

Job description

Primary Care Physio is England's largest leading national independent specialist first contact primary care provider who is purely focused on supporting NHS Primary Care Networks (PCNs) and their GP practices to deliver high-quality and tech-enabled NHS primary care FCP solutions across Physiotherapy and Podiatry.

Through our talented team of over 335 First Contact Physios, First Contact Podiatrists, & Advanced Practitioners, who are supported by experienced and Health Education England approved FCP Roadmap to Practice clinical supervisors, we have been commissioned by over 175 NHS Primary Care Networks (PCNs) to deliver an integrated and local FCP managed service.

We now serve around 15% of all GP practices in the country, and a patient population of over 8 million.

With us, you get the best of both worlds. You become an integrated and consistent MDT team member in the GP practice team you work with, but also gain a huge amount of professional peer support and clinical supervision via our talented and expansive nationwide team.

Main duties of the job

To apply, you should be a fully HCPC and CSP registered physiotherapist with at least 5 years post-graduate experience, including 3 years of relevant MSK clinical experience in line with HEE's Roadmap to Practice.

You should be a confident MSK practitioner and communicator who thrives from engaging with a variety of colleagues internally and within the GP practice multidisciplinary teams you are integrated into.

You should be a driven personality and passionate about developing your clinical skills to become the very best diagnostic clinician you can become.

You should be flexible to the changing fast-paced nature of working in primary care and rise to the challenges it presents.

You should be naturally innovative, appreciate the role digital plays in healthcare services, and enjoy looking for ways to improve services and support Primary Care Physio to continue to deliver evidence-based best practice where you work.

About us

We are a non-bureaucratic, non-hierarchical, can-do, positive, and supportive team to work with who is incredibly passionate about providing excellent primary care first contact MSK services.

We welcome applicants from a variety of career backgrounds (NHS, private, professional sport, B6, B7, and B8).

We pride ourselves on providing you with unrivaled day-to-day peer support, CPD, and training opportunities.

Each team member gets 4 hours of protected supervision and CPD time per week (equivalent to 27 days per year!!), including a weekly 1-2-1 with an HEE-approved FCP Supervisor.

We support our team members through the Roadmap via all routes - including the HEI taught route, HEI supported portfolio route, and the current independent portfolio verification process.

We even fully fund external level 7 MSc courses such as Injection Therapy and Non-Medical Prescribing.

We have now mobilised 175+ PCN FCP services and know that moving into primary care or into an FCP post for the first time can be daunting. Through our experience of implementing a large number of FCP services, we go the extra mile to make sure both you and the primary care network are fully supported to make the service a huge success.

Job responsibilities

Clinical Practice

• Assess, diagnose, triage, and manage patients, taking responsibility for the management of a complex caseload. You will progress and request investigations when trained to do so (such as x-rays and blood tests) and referrals to facilitate diagnosis and choice of treatment.
• Develop and make use of your full scope of clinical practice, including skills relating to independent prescribing, injection therapy and investigation when trained to do so.
• Manage complex interactions, including working with patients with psychosocial and mental health needs, referring to social prescribing when appropriate.
• Deliver programmes of supported patient self-management, in ways that facilitate behavioural change, optimise individuals' physical activity, mobility, fulfilment of personal goals and independence, and that minimise the need for pharmacological interventions.
• Provide care that is tailored to the individual needs. This would include, appraising the impact of individuals' clinical status on their general health, well-being, employment status (including in relation to function, physical activity, mobility and independence).
• Support patients to set their own goals and be confident in their approach to self-management.

Evidence, Research, and Development

• Develop relationships and a collaborative working approach across the PCN supporting the integration of pathways in primary care.
• Work as part of an MDT in a patient-facing role, using your expert knowledge of MSK issues, to create stronger links for wider MSK services through clinical leadership, teaching and evaluation skills.
• Support research and audit programmes to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of our FCP service.
• Streamline the pathway of care by providing a responsive service so that patients receive timely access to care.

Leadership

• Lead, manage and contribute to service delivery.
• Implement all aspects of effective clinical governance for own practice, including undertaking regular audit and evaluation, supervision and training.
• Communicate effectively and appropriately, with patients and carers, complex and sensitive information regarding diagnosis, pathology, prognosis and treatment choices supporting personalised care.

Facilitating learning

• Provide feedback and support to other PCN clinical team members on appropriate referral criteria.
• Critically reflect on your own practice, and continue to develop your skills.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Minimum 5 years post-graduate physiotherapy experience. Minimum 3 years of clinical experience of delivering musculoskeletal assessment and treatment.
• Previous clinical experience of first contact triage clinical work; even if in the private sector. Previous experience of working in a GP practice. Previous experience of using EMIS / SystmOne.

Experience

• Fully HCPC and CSP registered practicing Physiotherapist.
• Completion of some level 7 MSc learning. Qualified injection therapist and / or independent prescriber.

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.