First Contact Practitioner- Physiotherapy

Job overview

Previous applicants need not apply

Warrington and Halton Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WHH)  are recruiting for 2 posts  31 hours & 22.5 hours First Contact Practitioner- Physiotherapist (FCP) within the Runcorn area. Full time hours will also be considered.

Working  as part of the well-established Musculoskeletal Clinical Assessment and Triage Service (MSKCATS) , you will integrate with the current team of highly skilled Advanced Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Practitioners (AMPP) that currently deliver FCP services to the population of Runcorn in North West England.

You will be based in Runcorn  across the bases that provide FCP services- Halton Hospital, Halton Healthcare Hub and GP practices.  Currently, not all Runcorn GP practices have an FCP working on base, but all FCPs will be a link person with a specific GP practice to help facilitate relationships within the practice team. This combined working means that the post holder is not isolated from  colleagues and will work as part of the wider MSKCATS team.

You will be expected to cover GP practices in the Runcorn Primary Care Network if service needs require.

Halton has had a FCP service for over 5 years and an interface service for 15 plus years before that. We have excellent working relationships with our primary and secondary care colleagues as well as the ICB.

We have a long history of providing a high class, forward thinking, dynamic service based on the patient centred approach.

Main duties of the job

We are looking for highly motivated, confident, experienced MSK physiotherapists with a high level of clinical reasoning skills with the MSK field to join our friendly, supportive team.

Ideally, they would have already completed Stage 1 and Stage 2 of Roadmap to Practice and gained the digital badge, but consideration will be given to candidates who have yet to complete it but show potential. Candidates who have not completed the Roadmap will be expected to attend a Higher Education Institute (HEI) to complete the Roadmap as required.

Main duties:

• Provide early supported self-care advice and advice on community services to aid patient outcomes
• Be an active part of the MDT within the GP practice attending practice meetings, involved in education of GP practice colleagues.
• Be an active part of the MSKCATS team involved in service audits, pathway developments and education of physiotherapy colleagues.

• Provide high level assessment of patients with undiagnosed MSK conditions using advanced clinical reasoning and diagnostic skills.
• Provide expert advice using patient centred approach and Shared decision-making skills to aid appropriate signposting of patients to services
• Refer appropriately for diagnostic investigations and use advanced clinical reasoning skills in understanding the interventions required and the outcomes of them

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Role summary

The post holder will be an experienced MSK physiotherapist who works as an autonomous practitioner in Halton General Hospital, community bases and GP practices as required.

They will use advanced clinical reasoning and highly developed diagnostic skills during the assessment of patients with undiagnosed MSK conditions to diagnose, advise and signpost patients to the most appropriate form of management, whether that be supported self-care, community programmes, therapy setting or secondary care. They must be able to recognise red flags and masquerades of MSK conditions and be able to appropriately manage the patient with these conditions.

The post holder will have the ability to request investigations to aid with clinical diagnosis and effective onward management of the patient’s condition.

The post holder will be responsible for developing the relationship between the GP practice staff and be an active member of the practice MDT  offering advice, guidance, education and support as required.

The post holder is expected to supervise less experienced staff and students.

Full Job Description Attached