Specialist Physiotherapist - Critical Care / Surgery / Bariatrics in Knowsley

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Specialist Physiotherapist - Critical Care / Surgery / Bariatrics

NHS AfC: Band 6

Main area Therapies Grade NHS AfC: Band 6 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 409-8114236

Site Whiston Hospital Town Prescot Salary £39,959 - £48,117 per annum Salary period Yearly Closing 13/09/2026 23:59 Interview date 23/09/2026

Job overview

37.5 hours per week worked across a 7 day service (part time can be considered)

We have an exciting opportunity for a Band 6 Physiotherapist to join the Critical Care, Surgery and Bariatric therapy team at Whiston Hospital. We are seeking an individual who is a keen and confident practitioner with an enthusiasm to develop the Physiotherapy role within the acute surgery wards and ICU settings, with the inclusion of the bariatric surgery service, providing a caring and responsive service.

The successful applicant will be able to demonstrate excellent skills in assessment of respiratory function, formulating a structured rehabilitation plan from critical illness to discharge, including the provision of equipment along with experience of facilitating home and environmental visits. Attending preoperative education sessions to help enhance recovery by giving appropriate information is an essential remit of the team. They will be responsible for overseeing the Bariatric Surgery service, attending Bariatric MDT and pre-operative school.

The successful individual will possess excellent communication skills to enable patient centred care, effective multidisciplinary team working and raising the profile of the profession within the patient setting.

Interviews will take place on 23rd September, 2026

Main duties of the job

The implementation of evidence based practice and a willingness to identify and be involved in areas for future service development is also necessary. This individual will be enthusiastic, hardworking and motivated to develop their skills and the service they are part of. This will include competent organisational and time management skills with the ability to work flexibly due to varying day to day demands of the service.

The Trust is focused on keeping the patient at the centre of all we do. With this in mind, there is a commitment to professional development of employees to ensure high quality care is provided. This includes regular supervision and appraisal. A willingness to develop leadership skills in the supervision of rotational physiotherapists and delivery of clinical education for students from surrounding universities will also be expected.

As the Critical Care, Surgery and Bariatric therapy team involves Physiotherapists and Occupational Therapists working closely, the candidate would have the ability to undertake basic generic therapy assessment and treatment as appropriate. The successful candidate should have the ability to work flexibly and adaptably to a change in working patterns in view of a 7 day service and one rostered Monday evening a month.

A minimum of 3 years post registration experience is desirable.

Working for our organisation

Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 10,500 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites.

Our services:

Acute Care

Providing emergency and maternity services at Whiston, Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, and medical and surgical specialties across all our sites.

Primary Care

Providing primary care services at Marshalls Cross Medical Centre situated in St Helens Hospital.

Community Services

Providing adult community services for St Helens and a wheelchair service in Chorley, South Ribble, and West Lancashire. Our inpatient unit at Newton Community Hospital is where patients needing acute hospital beds can continue rehabilitation. We also provide urgent care at our Urgent Treatment Centre located in St Helens town centre.

Specialist Regional Services

We provide the Mersey Regional Burns & Plastic Surgery Unit at Whiston Hospital and the Spinal Injuries Unit at Southport Hospital to more than 4 million people across the whole of Merseyside, West Lancashire, Cheshire, Isle of Man and North Wales.

Achievements:

• Rated Outstanding by CQC Inspection August 2018
• Top 100 places to work in the NHS (NHS Employers & Health Service Journal)
• National Preceptorship Accreditation (2023) for Nursing & AHP Preceptorship Programme.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• You must have appropriate UK professional registration

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

Main Duties

• To be professional and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of your own work including the management of patients/clients in your care.
• To ensure a high standard of clinical care for the patients/clients under your care, and support more junior staff to do likewise.
• To undertake a comprehensive assessment of patients/clients including those with diverse or complex presentations/multi pathologies; use specialist clinical reasoning skills and appropriate assessment techniques to provide an accurate diagnosis of their condition
• Formulate and deliver an individual treatment programme using assessment, reasoning skills and treatment skills based on a sound knowledge of evidence based practice and treatment options. Formulate an initial diagnosis and prognoses in order to recommend best course of intervention and develop comprehensive discharge plans
• To take delegated responsibility from the Band 7 clinician for managing patients/clients with particular conditions and be responsible for providing specialist assessment and treatment plans for patients with these conditions.
• Evaluate patient progress, reassess and alter treatment programmes as required
• To have the ability to undertake self-directed/lone working in a variety of locations

Person specification

Our Values

• We are Kind
• We are Open
• We are Inclusive

Qualifications

• Degree in Physiotherapy
• HCPC registration
• Clinical Educators Certificate

Knowledge and Education

• Advanced clinical knowledge relevant to the current environment and evidence of evidence-based practise in relevant health setting
• Awareness of own strengths and limitations.
• Knowledge of relevant national policies and guidance and relevant assessment tools
• Experience of line managing team including setting objectives, conducting appraisals and effective delegation and coordination
• Evidence of effective working within an MDT
• Experience of service development
• Demonstrate experience of problem-solving approaches
• Audit and research in a clinical area

Skills

• Demonstrates ability to motivate team performance to achieve objectives
• Ability to prioritise and work to deadlines
• Ability to communicate effectively in a variety of settings
• Accurate record keeping, report writing and IT skills including presentation skills
• Have a flexible approach to working with good time management

Other

• Ability to travel to various hospital locations.

Thank you for considering an application to work for Mersey West Lancashire NHS Trust. MWL is an exciting and forward-thinking NHS Trust who are one of the best places to work for in England.

The Trust may contact you during the recruitment process for your feedback on your experience. We always aim for continuous improvement in our practice.

Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

We actively cultivate a professional environment of fairness, equality, dignity, and respect for all individuals. We welcome individuals from all backgrounds and value the unique skills, perspective and experience you bring. We are grounded in the belief that diversity enhances our collective strength, fostering innovation and excellence within our workforce. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion/belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy/maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.

As a Disability Confident Leader, we commit to offering an interview to all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

If you are having difficulty completing an online application, or require any disability reasonable adjustments, to the application process, please contact Recruitment@merseywestlancs.nhs.uk

We also commit to offering an interview to all armed forces veterans who meet the minimum criteria for the job (the essential criteria) listed in the personal specification. If you wish to apply under this Guaranteed Interview Scheme, please indicate this on the online application form.

The Trust operates anonymous shortlisting where no personal information about you, including your name or personal details are shared with the recruiting manager. No equality information is shared at any time during the recruitment process with the recruiting manager or other people involved in the decision-making process.

The equality monitoring information you provide is used in the following situations: to review our recruitment practices; where a job is limited to a specific person to verify their eligibility to apply; and to offer disability reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process.
Certificate of Sponsorship

eVisa Update
For successful candidates on selected work and study visa routes, who have completed and paid for their applications will no longer receive a visa vignette in passport as evidence of their permission to enter the UK.
Instead, you will be issued with an eVisa only, which is accessed by creating a UKVI account.
Before travelling to the UK, we advise applicants to:

• Understand how to generate an eVisa share code

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

If this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 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.

Please note if applicable, applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment.

If you have not already done so, you are therefore encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service to which a small annual fee of £13 per year applies.

Flexible Working

We actively support flexible working patterns throughout MWL. Changes made to the NHS Terms and Conditions of Service Handbook mean that:

• All employees have the right to request flexible working from day one of employment.
• There is no limit on the number of requests they can make.
• Employees have the right to make requests, have them considered, regardless of the reason.

At Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, we will consider requests for flexible working. We would also encourage you to also discuss flexible working options at interview stage.

Working for Team MWL

Staff recognition is especially important to us; as well as performance reviews and appraisals, we recognise staff through Employee of the month. Along with supporting you to achieve your career goals we offer a generous pension scheme, unsocial hours payments (where applicable), 27 days annual leave on commencement (pro rata) and access to a range of NHS discounts. Our Staff Health and Wellbeing programme offer a variety of services.

The Trust is a non-smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action. For more information, see the Smoke Free NHS website.

You will be expected to undertake the Trusts' commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children, young people and vulnerable adults.

You must ensure that your application, including personal statements and behaviour examples, are truthful and factually accurate. Please note plagiarism can include presenting the ideas and experience of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own.

The Trust will not accept applications which are found to be AI generated and will check all applications against AI detection software.

Additional Information

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE, which can be found here .

An applicant guide to help and support you with your application and what to expect during your recruitment journey can be accessed in the supporting documents.

Good luck with your application. We hope to welcome you to Team MWL very soon.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

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.