Community Cardiac Physiotherapist (Development Post)

Community Cardiac Physiotherapist (Development Post)

NHS AfC: Band 5-6

Main area Cardiac Rehabilitation Grade NHS AfC: Band 5-6 Contract Permanent Hours

• Part time
• Flexible working

30 hours per week (4 days Mon to Fri - flexibility required for covering 5 x 6 hour days Monday to Friday)

Job ref 302-25-7618999CM

Site Boston House Health Centre Town Wigan

Salary £31,049 - £46,580 pa pro rata

Salary period Yearly Closing 02/12/2025 23:59

Choose Well - Choose WWL

Job overview

An opportunity has arisen for an NHS experienced Band 5 physiotherapist to join an established and forward thinking, proactive team as part of an integrated community cardiology service. This is a developmental post once Band 6 competencies have been achieved.

We are seeking a motivated, caring and dynamic exercise physiotherapist to work as a key member of our team, supporting patients in their journey through cardiac rehabilitation. The post holder will work with the existing multidisciplinary team to provide high quality cardiac rehabilitation across the inpatient and outpatient settings. This will include the provision of community phase III programmes.

This is a permanent part time post (30 hours) working 4 days between Monday to Friday with flexibility required to provide cover.

As the role involves visiting patient homes & clinics across the Trust every day, postholders must state in their application if they have access to a car with suitable business insurance. If you do not mention this in your application, you will not be considered for the post.

Please note: This post is part‑time and may not meet the minimum salary threshold required for sponsorship under the Skilled Worker visa route. Therefore, not all applicants who require sponsorship will be eligible. Applicants who may require sponsorship are advised to check the current visa requirements on the GOV.UK website before applying.

This vacancy may close early if sufficient applications are received.

Main duties of the job

This role involves seeing complex cardiology patients in a range of settings including various community sites and community clinics. The post holder will autonomously manage their own caseload of patients as well as provide support and cover for the other clinicians within the team.

As a community trust we utilise “agile working” meaning that you will often work remotely. You will therefore need to be a flexible and adaptable team member with excellent communication skills including written and verbal. Good time management, basic IT and willingness to learn new skills.

The team operates 5 days a week between 8am and 5pm although there is scope for flexibility within the working hours to accommodate family friendly working.

Working for our organisation

Choose Well – Choose WWL

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust are the proud providers of acute hospital and community services to the people of the Wigan Borough and surrounding areas. At WWL, we value our staff believing that ‘happy staff, makes for happy patients’. We have a recognised track record in staff engagement and living our values ‘the WWL Way’.

WWL are committed to placing the patient at the heart of everything we do, and in the provision of safe, effective care that acknowledges and ensures dignity. With this in mind we are seeking to recruit people who share our values and beliefs.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Duties and Responsibilities

Key results from the job holder

• To undertake reasoned physiotherapeutic assessment of patients aged 18 and over with a range of cardiac conditions.
• To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of your own work including the management of patients in your care. To ensure high standards of clinical care for the patients under your management and support more junior staff to do likewise.
• To formulate and deliver an individual physiotherapy treatment programme to a specialised caseload based on sound knowledge of evidence‑based practice and treatment options using clinical assessment, reasoning skills and knowledge of treatment skills e.g., patient education, exercise classes, exercise testing and other alternate options.
• Evaluate patient progress in accordance with valid and reliable objective and subjective assessment tools, reassess and adapt treatment programmes to the changing need of the patient – working without direct supervision using clinical reasoning skills within scope of practice and refer to peers and senior colleagues when appropriate.
• To interpret and analyse clinical and non‑clinical facts to form accurate assessment and risk stratification in a wide range of highly complex cardiac conditions, to recommend the best course of intervention, and to develop comprehensive discharge plans in regard to the patient’s self‑management – re‑assess and modify treatment plan as necessary.
• To work autonomously without the direct supervision of physiotherapy colleagues.
• To ensure a high standard of clinical care for the patients under your management.
• To provide spontaneous and planned advice, teaching and instruction to relatives, carers and other professionals, to promote understanding of the aims of cardiac physiotherapy and to ensure a consistent approach to patient care.
• To deliver the physiotherapy element of care for patients within cardiac rehabilitation and on occasions to deliver the elements normally undertaken by medical, nursing or therapy colleagues.
• To be responsible for equipment used in carrying out physiotherapy treatment, and to adhere to trust policy, including competence to use equipment, and to ensure its safe use.
• Be an active member of the multidisciplinary team and liaise with them regarding patient management.
• To supervise, educate and assess the performance of therapy assistants and students.
• To implement policy and service development changes as designated.
• To be responsible for maintaining own competency to practice through CPD activities and maintain a portfolio which reflects personal development.
• To be pro‑active in the delivery of education and training sessions at staff meetings, training sessions in house and by attending external courses and undertaking reflective practice.
• To communicate complex patient‑related information (as well as non‑patient information) effectively and work collaboratively with medical, nursing and therapy colleagues to ensure the delivery of a coordinated multidisciplinary service.
• To participate in the staff appraisal scheme and Personal Development Plan.
• To be responsible for maintaining own competency to practice through CPD activities and maintain a portfolio which reflects personal development.

Planning and Organisational Duties

• To accept clinical responsibility for a designated caseload of patients, and to organise this effectively and efficiently with regard to clinical priorities and use of time.
• To work as a lone practitioner, with access to a senior physiotherapist within the MDT.
• Prioritise referrals according to clinical need, organise appointments, manage daily workload, paper and computer administration tasks, and making and receiving telephone calls before, during and after clinic sessions.
• To provide and maintain accurate and up‑to‑date patient records and to communicate assessment and treatment results to the appropriate disciplines in the form of letters, reports and entries onto IT systems, in accordance with Trust and CSP guidelines.
• To be actively involved in the provision and collection of accurate statistical information.
• To undertake and participate in clinical audit relevant to the post.
• To assist the team leader and senior physiotherapist in evaluating the service and identifying areas of improvement. To assist in implementation of new working practices.
• To comply with the organisation and departmental policies and procedures and to be involved in the reviewing and updating as appropriate.

Communications and Key Working Relationships

• Communicate effectively and sensitively with a flexible approach. To give patients details of their condition, its management and plans of treatment. This may involve explaining the nature of chronic or disabling conditions and possible poor outcome and response to treatment, and will need to take into consideration emotional, physical and psychological conditions.
• To communicate patient‑related information effectively and work collaboratively with medical, nursing and therapy colleagues.
• To gain consent from patients, including those who may have communication problems e.g. English as a second language, hearing loss, other medical conditions which affect communication.
• To use skills of motivation and encouragement to ensure active participation in home management programmes, in particular when there may be high levels of pain and anxiety, or depression.
• To de‑escalate patient concerns and manage early complaints referring to more senior colleagues in line with Trust policy.

Responsibility for Finance

• To contribute to the monitoring of resources required and maintenance of stocks.
• To bring defects or deficits in resources to the attention of senior therapy staff.

Responsibility for Human Resources

• To maintain portfolio of competencies showing evidence of lifelong learning.
• To actively participate in PDR, appraisal & supervision systems.
• To assist in induction and training of new staff and students.

Responsibility for Health & Safety

Compliance with the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 – the post holder is required to fulfil a proactive role towards the management of risk in all of their actions. This entails the risk assessment of all situations, the taking of appropriate actions and reporting of all incidents, near misses and hazards, and a statutory duty of care for their own personal safety and that of others who may be affected by their acts or omissions.

Responsibility for Teaching

• To provide advice and education to patients, GPs and other health care professionals.
• To participate in relevant research.
• To supervise, educate and assess the performance of junior members of staff and students.

Work Circumstances & on‑call

• Hours worked in line with local service delivery which currently is Monday to Friday 8am – 5pm but may include weekends and Bank Holiday working in the future.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Graduate Diploma/Degree in Physiotherapy
• Registered Physiotherapist with Health Professional Council.
• Member of relevant specialist interest group
• Member of CSP
• Evidence of relevant post graduate course/CPD

Experience

• Band 5 experience
• NHS experience
• Working in community outpatient setting
• Experience with rehabilitation focused practice
• Experience in a cardiac rehabilitation environment
• Experience of using health promotion techniques

Skills

• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Able to maintain judgement under pressure
• Use of clinical supervision
• Skilled in working with a multi‑disciplinary team
• Ability to work independently
• Evidence of cross professional working

Knowledge

• Knowledge of a whole range of Physiotherapy interventions and how these are applied in community settings.
• Committed to personal and team development
• Ability and committed to share skills/knowledge to others within both formal and informal environments
• Knowledge of a range of cardiology conditions likely to benefit from Cardiac Rehabilitation.
• Participates in self‑directed learning.
• Knowledge of national exercise guidelines for patients with coronary heart disease.
• Knowledge of audit, presentation skills and critical appraisal skills.

Additional

• Access to a vehicle with business insurance for mobile visits
• Flexible in line with service demand
• Able to manage the physical demands of the role including setting up of a practical session independently.
• Speak English to an appropriate standard relevant to their role, i.e. with confidence and accuracy, using correct sentence structures and vocabulary, and without hesitation.
• Creative and willing to learn.
• Recognises own limits.
• Able to work independently, and as part of a team.

Our Trust prefers candidates to submit applications online. Please contact the Recruitment Team on 01942 244000 if you have difficulty applying online.

Using AI when writing job applications

If you choose to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) or other tools to assist in writing your application, it’s essential to personalise this information, particularly your supporting statement to reflect the skills and experience to match your job application. Relying solely on AI to write your application or supporting statement is not advocated by Wrightington Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust as it could negatively impact your chances of success in the application process. Please refer to the attached \"Applying for a role in the NHS guidance\" for further information regarding the use of AI.

The Trust reserves the right to close adverts earlier than the stated closing date if there is a high volume of applications.

We endeavour to inform all applicants of the outcome of their application by email or SMS text message.

Guidance on Completing Your Application

Applications are scored against the person specification, therefore we recommend that you use the supporting information section of your application form to demonstrate how you meet the essential and desirable criteria for the role, providing illustrative examples where possible.

On-Call

Please note that some roles may require you to participate in an on‑call rota, if the role is predominantly operational.

WWL has signed up to the Greater Manchester Continuous Service Commitment. and will recognise your continuous or ‘unbroken’ service in any Greater Manchester Local Authority or NHS organisation, Transport for Greater Manchester, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service or Greater Manchester Combined Authority; giving you access to our service‑related benefits.

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.

Address Buckingham Row
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Telephone 0300 7073815