Highly Specialist Physiotherapist -- Mental Health
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Band 7 Highly Specialist Physiotherapist to join a newly established Physical Health Therapies service within the acute mental health and transitional care wards of Barnet, Enfield, and Haringey divisions. This role could be ideal for an experienced Band 6 looking for promotion or an established Band 7.
This innovative role involves working collaboratively with the physical health and multidisciplinary teams to build an effective, evidence-based service that integrates physical health interventions into mental health pathways.
The Physical Health Therapies service delivers Physiotherapy and Speech and Language Therapy, alongside Dietetics and Podiatry through Service Level Agreements. The team works in partnership with colleagues across the North London NHS Foundation Trust to provide holistic care for adult service users. This is an excellent opportunity to shape a service, raise awareness of physical health needs in acute mental health settings, and champion physiotherapy's contribution to multidisciplinary care.
We welcome an experienced physiotherapist with a broad clinical background, particularly in musculoskeletal, orthopaedics, and general rehabilitation, to bring valuable expertise to this role.
Main Duties of the Job
The post holder will be a key member of the newly established Physical Health Therapies service, providing specialist physiotherapy expertise to adult mental health service users.
This role includes clinical leadership and professional management of the physiotherapy staff within the Physical Health AHP Team, ensuring the delivery of evidence-based, high-quality care while maintaining the highest standards of professional conduct. They will assume responsibility for service operations in the manager's absence, providing strategic and clinical oversight.
The post holder will work alongside senior clinicians in the team to deliver a case management approach to integrate, coordinate, and proactively assess service users' health and social care needs. They will develop care plans to ensure safe, timely, and effective discharge, optimise service users' outcomes, and provide service users and professionals with necessary skills and knowledge.
In addition to managing their own caseload, the post holder will oversee appraisal systems, clinical supervision, and staff training programmes. They will also lead on clinical audits, quality improvement initiatives, and service developments to ensure the evolving needs of service users are met effectively.
About Us
North London NHS Foundation Trust (NLFT) is committed to improving mental health care across North London to deliver excellent services to our local people.
Our Five-Year Strategy:
1. We will provide consistently high-quality care closer to home.
2. With our partners in North London and each borough we will ensure equity of outcome for all.
3. We will offer great places to work, providing staff with a supportive environment to deliver outstanding care.
4. We will be more effective as an organisation by pioneering research, quality improvement, and technology.
In order to meet the needs of the Trust, you may be required from time to time to work at different locations to your normal place of work. This may mean that you are required to work at any location that falls under Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey, or Islington. The Trust reserves the right to require staff to work at such other places or locations as it considers reasonable and necessary on a temporary or permanent basis.
Job Responsibilities
For comprehensive details of the key responsibilities, required skills, and essential experience associated with this exciting opportunity, we encourage you to carefully review the accompanying 'Job Description & Person Specification' document.
Person Specification
Qualifications/Registrations
* Degree-level professional qualification in Physiotherapy
* HCPC registration
* High level post-graduate courses in related area of expertise
* Trust training in Appraisal and Recruitment
Skills/Abilities
* Highly specialist level of clinical skills - able to implement appropriate assessment, diagnosis, and treatment for complex physical health presentations.
* Demonstrate an ability to manage and prioritise own/team's workload equitably across a designated area and across physiotherapy services as required, responding to unpredictable changes to patients and staffing levels.
* Ability to work efficiently, effectively, and professionally as part of a multi-disciplinary team, understanding the role and nature of team working.
* Effective communication skills, able to engage a wide range of stakeholders to optimise care and service management, including the use of negotiation skills and communicating complex, sensitive, and contentious information in an understandable form.
* Demonstrable clinical leadership skills, able to develop, lead, manage, and support staff.
* Able to design and implement teaching programmes within own field, suitable for different staff groups.
* Able to critically appraise own performance and accept and respond positively to feedback from supervision.
Experience/Knowledge
* Broad range of clinical experience at junior level including musculoskeletal, orthopaedic, and general rehabilitation.
* Substantial experience in clinical staff supervision and training.
* Demonstrate a working knowledge and experience of clinical governance with examples of participation in projects for the improvement of patient care and service developments, including leading on projects as required.
* Commitment to and evidence of own continuous professional development and evidence-based practice, including reflective practice, in-service training, any courses attended, and clinical experience gained.
* Good understanding of national strategy, guidance, and key standards in own specialist area and their application in practice.
* Knowledge and experience of working with service users who have mental health presentations.
* Participation in clinical research activities.
Personal Qualities
* Able to work flexibly and cooperatively as part of a team.
* Committed to promoting a positive image of the Physiotherapy Service in mental health settings.
Other Requirements
* The physical capabilities to manage patients with acute and long-term disabilities both on the wards and in the therapy treatment areas.
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.
£51,883 to £58,544 a year per annum including HCAS
#J-18808-Ljbffr