Advanced Clinical Practitioner MSK in Ormskirk

We want talented and enthusiastic people from all backgrounds to join #TeamMWL, with us you can learn, grow and develop yourself and your career, realising your true ambitions and aspirations. Whatever you’re looking for in your career, you’ll find it here at MWL.

Main area: Physiotherapy

Grade: NHS AfC: Band 8a

Contract: 10 months (fixed term maternity cover until May 2027)

Hours: Full time - 37.5 hours per week

Job ref: 409-S7986921

Site: Ormskirk Hospital

Town: Ormskirk

Salary: £57,528 - £64,750 per annum pro rata

Salary period: Yearly

Closing: 08/09/2026 23:59

Job overview: An exciting opportunity has arisen for an MSK Advanced Clinical Practitioner Physiotherapist to join the exemplar Joint Health Integrated MSK Service at MWL Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to cover a maternity leave until May 2027. As an advanced clinical practitioner, the post holder will support the continued drive for patient centred care, champion quality, deliver performance targets and safe effective patient outcomes by placing the patients at the heart of all we do. We are looking for an experienced, dynamic, and highly motivated advanced physiotherapy practitioner who is enthusiastic and forward-thinking to support the Joint Health Integrated MSK Service. The successful candidate will have a wealth of musculoskeletal clinical experience and be able to demonstrate strong leadership and educational skills. A vision for research and service development is required to ensure continuing excellent patient and staff experience. Applicants must have evidence of MSK Physio Advance Practice. Previous applicants need not apply.

Main duties of the job: The Joint Health Integrated MSK Service is a single point of access service offering self-referral alongside specialist assessment, investigations, and treatment for patients with musculoskeletal conditions. The service utilises an escalation and de-escalation model. This enables appropriate access to all diagnostic services, treatment, and onward management when indicated. Several innovations and channel shifts have taken place in the service, accelerated due to unprecedented times. This has been an exciting opportunity to develop our digital strategy/delivery and incorporate the benefits of digital alongside face-to-face consultations whilst also being led by patients with lived experience and staff feedback.

The team is multi-professional including: MSK Doctors, Consultant Neurosurgeon, Consultant Rheumatology MDT, Consultant Physiotherapists, Advanced MSK Physiotherapy Practitioners, Specialist Pelvic Floor Physiotherapist, MSK Physiotherapists, Advanced MSK Podiatry Practitioner, Specialist Occupational Hand Therapists, Advance Practice Rheumatology Therapist, Therapy Assistants and Admin support. The service puts a strong emphasis on and values the learning environment. The service ensures that staff can develop skills and knowledge to their full potential. The therapy outpatient service has a well-established supervision, case discussion and journal club programme.

Working for our organisation: Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust serves a population of over 600,000 with a workforce of over 9000 dedicated and skilled staff across 21 sites. We strongly believe that the communities we serve should all have access to Five Star Patient Care.

Our services include:

• 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.
• 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:

• Support the clinical management of complex patients encompassing the initial assessment and subsequent care in the appropriate area, ward or department.
• Actively support patients and their families through communicating difficult and highly complex information using a variety of methods to ensure effective understanding in a timely manner.
• Communicates complex information to patients/carers during the consent process prior to commencement of treatment plans and invasive and non-invasive procedures including explaining treatment options.
• Proactively supports patients and carers in coming to terms with their illness/condition.
• Provide a professional portfolio of skills including clinical assessment, basic diagnosis, treatments, and advanced practical skills.
• Ensures effective communication is maintained between members of the multidisciplinary team to ensure appropriate individuals are informed of changes to the patient’s conditions or treatment plan.
• Provides empathy and reassurance through understanding the quality-of-life issues associated with their illness/condition.
• Develop a high level of complex decision making in relation to the assessment, planning, intervention, and evaluation of patient care.
• Provide professional leadership and support within a multi-professional team.
• Monitor and promote high standards of care and documentation.
• To diffuse potential complaints and hostile situations with staff, patients and carers using highly developed negotiation and interpersonal skills.
• Provide follow up and specialised supportive advice as required for all members of the multi-professional team caring for patients and discharging to a variety of other settings.
• Develop a locally approved formulary and prescribe within agreed limits under supervision.
• Work in collaboration with the multi-professional team to promote quality care, participating in audit and assisting in developing unit protocols and practice.
• Facilitate effective communication and handover within the multi-professional team and ensure patients and their families are appropriately involved and informed.
• Support and assist with training of the multi-professional team as they are inducted to the specialty.
• Gather, analyse, and report a wide range of data and information.
• Acts as a role model and an expert resource for patients and staff throughout the Trust.
• Supports the Consultants, Intensive care/Anaesthetic Registrars, and other Doctors, in providing patients with treatment plans within the specialty.
• Performs invasive and non-invasive and complex specialist procedures relevant to the specialty and makes recommendations for treatment.
• Participates in service development.
• Writes protocols, guidelines, and procedures for own remit which impacts on other members of the multi-disciplinary team.
• Develops and evaluates these protocols and guidelines and procedures using current literature and research.

Person specification:

Qualifications:

• First level registered nurse/professional UK registration
• First Degree (or equivalent experience)
• Post registration course in specialty
• Master’s in advanced clinical Practice
• Registered health professional with legal and accountable responsibilities for non-medical prescribing
• Teaching qualification (C&G730, CertEd, PGCE or equivalent)

Knowledge and Experience:

• Significant demonstrable experience of working in the setting some of this must include working at a senior level managing and leading teams and this will be assessed at interview
• Ability to demonstrate specialist expertise underpinned by theory through CPD
• Excellent clinical reasoning /clinical decision-making skills
• Evidence of involvement in the development of programs of care, protocols and guidelines
• Knowledge of Clinical risk management and Governance

Skills:

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills demonstrating negotiation and persuasion skills
• Evidence of both theoretical and practical skills and competency in Care Management within the specialty
• Ability to manage demanding and challenging workload
• Ability to handle sensitive situations with tact and diplomacy
• Ability to make effective decisions
• Interpretation of diagnostic tests
• Ability to build rapport with colleagues, patients and relatives
• Experience of MDT working
• Strong leadership and team building skills
• Ability to use own initiative
• Ability to work autonomously or within a team
• Confident with IT
• Enthusiastic, dynamic, self-motivated

Other:

• Occasional requirement to exert moderate physical effort for short periods during a given time when moving and transferring patients.
• Required to concentrate when carrying out care.
• Work is generally predictable but occasional requirement to deal with unpredictable emergency situations.
• Working closely with complex patients and their carers.
• Supporting patients, carers and families who have been given bad news.

Our Values: We are Kind, We are Open, We are Inclusive.

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. Given sometimes we receive a high volume of applications to work for us, please be aware that we may close a vacancy earlier than stated should a sufficient number of applications be received from which a shortlist can be confirmed. Therefore, you are advised to apply at your earliest convenience. 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: Following the recent update on UK immigration policy for those on a Health and Care Visa or Skilled Worker Visa, please check your eligibility before applying for this post as we may be unable to provide 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: 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 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 offers a variety of services. The Trust is a non-smoking across all our sites. Failure to follow this rule could lead to disciplinary action.

You will be expected to undertake the Trust's 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 Trust's Values and Behaviours which are We are KIND, We are OPEN, We are INCLUSIVE. 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.