About the Organisation:
NHS Orkney is committed to delivering excellent care to our 22,000 residents. Whether you’re new to the NHS or bringing experience from elsewhere, your skills will make a real difference.
Our modern healthcare facility, The Balfour, brings together inpatient care, emergency services, outpatient clinics, diagnostics, GP practices and the Scottish Ambulance Service. We’re also investing in services across our outer isles, ensuring high-quality care reaches every corner of Orkney.
We are guided by our core values that shape everything we do Open and honest, Respect and Kindness from how we care for our patients to how we support each other as colleagues.
About Orkney:
With over 70 islands 20 of them inhabited Orkney offers a unique blend of natural beauty, close-knit community and an opportunity for adventure. From dramatic coastlines and rare wildlife to rich cultural traditions and active lifestyles, it’s a place where compassion thrives and every day brings something new. Regularly named one of the UK’s best places to live, Orkney offers a lifestyle that’s both fulfilling and inspiring.
The Position:
An exciting opportunity has arisen for a Highly Specialist Paediatric Physiotherapist to join our Children’s Health Services within NHS Orkney.
This is a rewarding and varied role offering the chance to make a real difference to children and young people across Orkney. You will manage a highly complex and diverse caseload, working across community, clinic, Island, education and home environments, and play a key role in shaping and developing paediatric physiotherapy services.
You will work as part of a supportive, integrated multidisciplinary team alongside Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Health Visiting, Education and wider partners, delivering high-quality, child and family-centred care.
You will:
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Provide advanced physiotherapy assessment, diagnosis and treatment for children and young people with complex needs
- Manage an independent caseload, including neurological, developmental and musculoskeletal conditions
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Develop and implement individualised treatment plans in partnership with children, families and other professionals
- Deliver therapy across a range of settings including clinics, schools, nurseries and home environments including the ferry linked isles.
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Provide specialist advice, training and support to families, carers and the wider workforce
- Work collaboratively within the integrated children’s services MDT to improve outcomes for children and young people
- Contribute to service development, audit and quality improvement initiatives
- Support the ongoing development of evidence-based practice within the service
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Work closely with and communicate with the Specialist Paediatric Physiotherapists in North of Scotland and Royal Aberdeen Children’s hospital paediatric staff as we do not have children’s inpatient facilities within Orkney.
The Candidate:
You will be a highly skilled, confident and compassionate paediatric physiotherapist who is able to work autonomously while contributing meaningfully to a small, integrated children’s service.
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Significant experience in paediatric physiotherapy, including children with complex neurological, developmental and musculoskeletal conditions
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Able to undertake advanced assessment, clinical reasoning and treatment planning independently
- Confident managing a complex caseload across a range of settings (clinic, schools, home, community)
- Committed to evidence-based practice and continuous professional development
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Familiar with using hydrotherapy as par of their treatment programme
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Child and family-centred in approach, with a genuine commitment to improving outcomes
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Highly developed communication and interpersonal skills, able to build strong relationships with children, families and partners
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Flexible and adaptable, able to respond to the varied demands of a remote/island service
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Resilient and solution-focused, particularly within a small team environment
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Strong experience of working within multi-disciplinary and multi-agency teams (e.g. AHPs, education, social care, paediatrics)
- Able to provide advice, training and support to colleagues, families and the wider workforce
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Comfortable contributing to integrated working across health, education and social care
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Experience (or emerging capability) in:
- Service development and improvement
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Clinical audit and quality improvement
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Supporting pathway redesign and innovation
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Willing to take ownership of specific service areas and drive improvements locally
The successful candidate will:
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Be comfortable working with a high degree of autonomy, often as the specialist voice in their field
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Value being part of a close-knit team where relationships matter
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Be motivated by the opportunity to shape and influence services in a meaningful way
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Be willing to embrace the island context, including travel between settings and innovative ways of working
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Hold a valid driving licence and have the ability to independently travel around Orkney as required.
Location, Working Pattern and Contract Duration:
This post will be based at The Peedie Sea Children’s Centre (where the hydro pool is housed)
The successful candidate will work: Full Time 36 hours per week
This post is Permanent
It is a condition of this employment that you must live and remain a resident within the UK for the post in which you will be employed with NHS Orkney.
Benefits and Salary:
Did you know NHS Scotland salaries are higher than those in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland?
The salary for this post is Band 7 and if residing on Orkney, you’ll also receive a Distant Islands Allowance of £1,719 pro rata per annum, adding extra value to your rewarding career with us.
NHS Orkney also offers an attractive pension scheme, wide range of work life balance policies, employee assistance programme and various discounts to both local and national retailers.
Further Information:
If you share our vision and are ready to be part of Team Orkney, we’d love to hear from you. Your rewarding career starts here!
We are happy to consider any reasonable adjustments that candidates may need during the recruitment process, and you will be asked whether you require any during your application. If there are additional requirements you would like to request, please contact [email protected]
For further guidance on the recruitment process and tips for creating a strong application, please refer to our Candidate Application Pack.
To find out more about this opportunity please contact Louise Willis, Children’s Health Service Manager on [email protected]
This post is subject to a Disclosure Scotland check.
NHS Orkney is an equal opportunities employer committed to advancing equality and particularly welcomes applications from groups of people currently underrepresented within the workforce. We are a committed participant in the Disability Confident Leader Scheme and guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum essential criteria for our vacancies.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) - Candidates should provide original and authentic responses to all questions within the application form. The use of artificial intelligence (AI), automated tools, or other third-party assistance to generate, draft, or significantly modify responses is strongly discouraged. By submitting your application, you confirm that all answers are your own work, reflect your personal knowledge, skills and experience, and have not been solely produced or altered by AI or similar technologies.
Failure to comply with this requirement may result in your application being withdrawn from the application process.
Please note this advert may close early if sufficient applications are received.
