Physiotherapist – Spinal Cord Injury

Job overview

Our team is growing following investment in the regional transformation of spinal cord injury (SCI) care which has led to the NNUH being appointed as a regional SCI hub in the network. The hub operates within the established spinal care service in Trauma and Orthopaedics which currently consists of 6 Consultants, a Spinal Fellow and two Specialist Trainees who work alongside our spinal nurse practitioners, Allied health professionals and the ward team.

The NNUH hub will support the SCI pathway of care across the Norfolk and Waveney area optimizing recovery by improving timely access to services and commencing specialist rehabilitation within the acute sector. We are seeking an experienced senior physiotherapist to join the team to support our physiotherapy clinical lead. Applicants will need to demonstrate specialist knowledge and skills in the acute care and rehabilitation of spinal cord injuries resulting from trauma.

You will be involved in developing and transforming our services and care pathways, supporting the clinical leadership to ensure provision of excellent patient care in collaboration with the physiotherapy clinical, operational and AHP leads.

You will be included in the Physiotherapy Orthopaedic in-patient weekend roster to fulfil the 7-day working commitments required for this post. There will also be a requirement to participate in the Respiratory On-call rota.

Main duties of the job

Interview date: 22 September 2026. This will be an in person interview (MS Teams interviews, or alternative dates are not available).

You will be a Senior Physiotherapist responsible for the physiotherapy management of a defined caseload of patients within the specialty presenting to the Trust

You will:

• Assess, prioritise and manage own caseload of patients, determine clinical diagnosis and treatment indicated, and maintain records as a legally autonomous practitioner. Patient presentation may be complex/highly complex.
• Work will be undertaken without direct supervision. Clinical/professional supervision may take the form of formal training, clinical reasoning sessions and occasional direct observation of practice. Advice and support is always available
• Provide clinical leadership within the speciality including educational, professional and managerial guidance
• Have an active role in the planning, development, coordination, delivery and evaluation of the physiotherapy service provided to patients within and out-reaching from the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Deputise for the Team Leader/Senior physiotherapy staff as required
• Support the delivery of a high quality, safe and compassionate healthcare service

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital is a leading teaching hospital with world-class facilities and strong links to both the University of East Anglia and Norwich Research Park, both of which are located in close proximity, making NNUH a unique location for collaborative working.

Norwich Research Park (NRP) has an international reputation for research and NNUH is one of 15 NHS/Foundation trusts which has been appointed to run a local branch of the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network and is now the host organisation of the Clinical Research Network: Eastern.

People are at the heart of everything we do. We support patients through every stage of their care, ensuring that we address and respect individual needs at every step. We recognise that our staff are our greatest asset and commit to investing in their development, to ensure that our services continue to improve and evolve.

The department is committed to advancing our research capabilities and ensure that relevant research evidence is integrated into clinical practice to aid staff and service development. This post will provide multiple opportunities for clinical, professional and personal development in keeping with our Trusts strategic objective of becoming a centre of excellence for research, education and staff development.

The Physiotherapy service plays an instrumental role in exciting developments in the Trust. Our patients rate us highly on quality of care and having friendly, approachable staff and we are looking for like-minded individuals to join us on this journey.

The team works closely together and the Spinal Consultant and Lead Spinal Cord Injury Practitioner shaping services in line with the regional network vision. You will gain peer support from the Spinal Cord Injury Clinical Lead, Spinal Injury MDT and other Clinical leads in the Trauma and Orthopaedic team.

All staff are expected to act as a role model to others in all aspects of their work and consistently demonstrate NNUH’s ‘PRIDE’ values of People focused, Respect, Integrity, Dedication and Excellence and demonstrate behaviours that support and encourage an inclusive culture.

Please view the attached job description for full details of the role, and use your supporting statement to confirm how you meet the essential and desirable criteria on the job specification.

Please note due to high volume of applications for some posts, this post may close before the displayed closing date. We recommend that you apply for this role asap.

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.