We are looking for an experienced and highly skilled physiotherapist to join our Musculoskeletal (MSK) service in a dynamic and rewarding hybrid role across MSK and Primary Care. This post offers an exciting opportunity to work at an advanced level, providing a highly specialist extended scope physiotherapy service. You will play a key role in assessing, diagnosing and directing patients with a wide range of musculoskeletal conditions onto the most appropriate care pathway, helping to improve patient flow and reduce delays in access to care.
Joining our team means being part of a forward-thinking, supportive service that actively embraces innovation to improve patient care and staff experience. We are continually developing new ways of working across MSK and Primary Care, creating opportunities for clinicians to shape services, influence pathways, and work at the forefront of modern, patient-centred care. You will be supported to work autonomously while also benefiting from strong clinical leadership, peer support, and a collaborative team culture that values ideas, improvement, and progression.
As a First Contact Practitioner, you will work at the front door of primary care, seeing patients without prior GP consultation and using your expert clinical reasoning to provide rapid and accurate diagnosis and management plans. You will have the autonomy to make decisions about the most appropriate course of action for patients, including those presenting with undifferentiated conditions, ensuring safe, effective and timely care.
You will be confident in requesting and interpreting diagnostic investigations such as imaging and blood tests, using this information to inform clinical decision-making while understanding the limitations of these tools. A strong focus of the role is supporting patients to self-manage their conditions, promoting behaviour change, improving mobility and independence, and reducing reliance on medication through evidence-based, non-pharmacological approaches.
This role is ideal for a motivated clinician who thrives in a fast-paced environment, enjoys working autonomously, and is passionate about delivering high-quality, patient-centred care while contributing to innovative models of service delivery within the NHS.
Mersey Care is one of the largest trusts providing physical health and mental health services in the North West, serving more than 1.4 million people across our region and are also commissioned for services that cover the North West, North Wales and the Midlands.
We offer specialist inpatient and community services that support physical and mental health and specialist inpatient mental health, learning disability, addiction and brain injury services. Mersey Care is one of only three trusts in the UK that offer high secure mental health facilities.
At the heart of all we do is our commitment to ‘perfect care’ – care that is safe, effective, positively experienced, timely, equitable and efficient. We support our staff to do the best job they can and work alongside service users, their families, and carers to design and develop future services together. We’re currently delivering a programme of organisational and service transformation to significantly improve the quality of the services we provide and safely reduce cost as we do so.
Flexible working requests will be considered for all roles.
To work at expert level in the assessment of spinal pain and musculoskeletal conditions with a high level of autonomy with the ability to differentiate presentations that may masquerade as musculoskeletal.
To be responsible for triage, of all orthopaedic, rheumatology, neurosurgical and pain referrals from primary care, ensuring rapid prioritisation and provision of appointments
and to take responsibility for appropriate routing and discharging patients from care.
Based on comprehensive assessment, to make high level clinical decisions on the most appropriate care pathway for patients referred to the service through use of expert knowledge and liaison with other key professionals. This will be informed by the urgency and severity of patient need, patient acuity and dependency, and the most
appropriate deployment of resources.
To take professional responsibility as a first contact physiotherapist, with high level decision making and clinical reasoning skills to assess, diagnose and triage a range of, including highly complex conditions.
To streamline pathways of care by providing a responsive service so that patients receive timely access to care.
To involve patients in decision making and to support patients to set their own goals and be confident in their approach to self-management.
To 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.
To demonstrate highly developed, specialist understanding of the biopsychosocial model of patient care and implement this model in the early intervention phase for patients.
To work as a lone practitioner as required and be highly confident in clinical skills and knowledge.
To ensure care is proactive, preventative in focus and population based, with an emphasis on early intervention.
To communicate effectively and appropriately with patients highly complex and sensitive information regarding diagnosis, pathology and prognosis; there may be significant barriers to acceptance
To prescribe diagnostic tests including radiology and pathology following period of training.
To use a range of clinical skills which may include:
- Non-medical Independent prescribing
- Joint/soft tissue injections
- non-pharmacological solutions
To interpret clinical diagnosis and prognosis for patients with highly complex problems which may include the appropriate recommendation of intervention outside the scope of physiotherapy.
To develop a support system with other professionals in similar fields.
To use outcome measures as part of their clinical approach.
To provide learning opportunities for the whole multi professional team within primary care and act as an expert available to other professions seeking guidance on the management of musculoskeletal conditions.
To exercise professional judgement and manage risk, making, justifying and taking responsibility for decisions in unpredictable situations, including in the context of incomplete or contradictory information.
To manage interactions in complex situations, including with individuals with particular psychosocial and mental health needs and with colleagues across the primary care team, sectors and settings.
To maintain accurate records.
To communicate effectively highly complex, sensitive or contentious information, using a variety of methods, with all service users, members of the team and those outside the service.
To communicate investigation results to patients which may include breaking bad news regarding diagnoses and be distressing for the patient and staff.
MANAGERIAL
To operate as a full member of the primary care team, including contributing to leadership, service evaluation/improvement and research activity.
To manage and co-ordinate the care that individual patients receive, including through liaising with other members of the MDT and with patients' carers.
To lead primary care activity, with a strong emphasis on prevention and early intervention, including through the delivery of public health advice (e.g. relating to physical activity, weight management and smoking cessation).
To contribute to the use of healthcare technologies to optimise the integration of service delivery (across teams, sectors and settings) and patients’ access and continuity of care.
To act as a source of expertise on the management of patients with
neuromusculoskeletal conditions to primary health care practitioners, consultants and senior physiotherapists.
To provide specialist musculoskeletal advice to all physiotherapy staff, GPs, Consultants and other health professionals involved in patient care.
To contribute to the development of primary care teams, including through contributing to others' learning.
To lead, manage and contribute to service delivery.
To develop and streamline clinical pathways of care within the specialist field of MSK.
To provide a highly responsive service so that patients receive timely access to care.
To represent the physiotherapy service on relevant committees and meetings, as a lead physiotherapy clinician, provide input in relation to specialist issues and clinical matters as required.
To support the team manager, operational manager and head of service in interpreting complex clinical issues and advising regarding the clinical aspect of complex complaint responses.
To understand and contribute to the workplace vision and improve quality within limitations of the service.
To review last year’s progress and develop clear plans and goals to achieve results within priorities set by others.
To assist in the development and implementation of innovative practices that are evidence based, influencing national and local standards of care.
To manage and oversee the workload of less experienced qualified and unqualified staff.
EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT
To provide learning opportunities for the whole multi professional team within primary care using professional specialist knowledge and experience gained within MSK advanced practitioner role.
To work with MDT to develop more effective and streamlined clinical pathways and services within specialist field using Masters level experience or equivalent.
To understand and demonstrate the characteristics of a role model to members in the team and/or service.
To conduct teaching and assessment effectively according to a learning plan with supervision from a more experienced colleague.
To self-develop through continuous professional development activity.
To participate in the delivery of formal education programmes.
To keep up to date with current educational policies relevant to working areas of practice and use these to update clinical pathways within the service.
As clinical supervisor and educator, to design, develop and deliver programmes of specialised learning in line with evidence based practice to the MDT including GPs, senior and junior physiotherapy staff.
To train, supervise and performance manage senior clinical staff with their CPD and to coordinate training to all staff ensuring competence in carrying out these duties.
To attend high level courses as directed by an individual personal development plan and the needs of the musculoskeletal service and to disseminate this information to colleagues to support best practice.
RESEARCH AND AUDIT
To act as a catalyst for change, reviewing service and clinical provision through leading complex clinical audits and undertaking research, identifying areas for development and implementing change.
To maintain own CPD by keeping abreast of any new research and developments and incorporate them as necessary into your work.
To critically evaluate and review literature and to identify where there is a gap in the evidence base to support practice.
To generate evidence suitable for presentation at local level and to apply the research evidence base into working practice.
To understand the principles of research governance and work to support the research objectives of the service.
