Community Therapy Assistant

Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust; Sefton; On-site; GBP 17,000 - 22,000; Part time

Job summary

Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a part-time Community Therapy Assistant to support paediatric physiotherapy and occupational therapy in Sefton. You will help deliver interventions for children aged 0–19 in community settings under supervision.

The role includes regular supervision, training, and development opportunities, a 22.5-hour week, and travel between community locations. Applicants should have GCSEs, be prepared to work towards NVQ II, and hold a driving licence.

Qualifications

• GCSE level or equivalent required.
• Be prepared to work towards NVQ level II.
• Experience in caring for children is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Assist therapists in delivering pediatric physiotherapy and occupational therapy.
• Follow treatment plans and liaise with therapists on patient progress.
• Provide care across community settings for children aged 0-19 with varied needs.
• Support families and carers to engage with therapy programmes.

Skills

Communication skills

Independence

Paediatric care awareness

Education

GCSE level or equivalent

NVQ II or equivalent experience

Job description

Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust

Community Therapy Assistant

The closing date is 23 November 2026

Alder Hey's Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy Service in Sefton Community are seeking a caring and enthusiastic part time (22.5hours) Therapy Assistant to join the team and support children to achieve their therapy goals!

The successful candidate will support experienced Physiotherapist's and Occupational Therapist's to assess and deliver intervention to children aged 0 - 19 years with functional, developmental, and neurological difficulties in community settings across Sefton.

You will be an integral member of the Community Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy Team and as such will have regular supervision, training, and development opportunities.

Please note that this advert may close early if there are high volumes of applications.

Main duties of the job

• To be an integral member of the physiotherapy and occupational therapy team, assisting the therapists to deliver management and treatment of the children referred to the service.
• To follow agreed treatment plans provided by the therapist, delivering a high standard of paediatric physiotherapy and occupational therapy and providing on-going liaison with the therapist regarding children's management.
• To provide a high standard of paediatric physiotherapy and occupational therapy working without supervision, following treatment plans set out by the therapist.
• To assist in the provision of a high standard of paediatric physiotherapy and occupational therapy care in a variety of community settings, working with children aged 0-19 years with a variety of conditions and needs including neuro disabilities, developmental delay and learning disabilities.

About us

Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust is a provider of specialist health care to over 275,000 children and young people each year. In addition to the hospital site located in the West Derby area of Liverpool, Alder Hey has a presence in community outreach sites and, in collaboration with other providers, our clinicians help deliver care closer to patients' homes by holding local clinics at locations from Cumbria to Shropshire, in Wales and the Isle of Man.

We currently have more than 4,000 staff working across our community and hospital sites. We're also a teaching and training hospital providing education and training to around 540 medical and over 500 nursing and allied health professional students each year.

As black and minority ethnic (BME) employees are currently under-represented in this area, we particularly welcome applications from members of our BME communities. All appointments will be made on merit.

Sponsorship - We are an approved sponsoring organisation. Applications will be considered from applicants requiring sponsorship alongside all other applications. Please be aware, not all roles are eligible for sponsorship. You can review the list of eligible role and requirements on the government website.

Job responsibilities

Main Duties and Responsibilities

• To be an integral member of the physiotherapy and occupational therapy team, assisting the therapists to deliver management and treatment of the children referred to the service.
• To follow agreed treatment plans provided by the therapist, delivering a high standard of paediatric physiotherapy and occupational therapy and providing on-going liaison with the therapist regarding childrens management.
• To provide a high standard of paediatric physiotherapy and occupational therapy working without supervision, following treatment plans set out by the therapist.
• To assist in the provision of a high standard of paediatric therapy care in a variety of community settings, working with children aged 0-19 years with avariety of conditions and needs including neuro disabilities, developmental delay and learning disabilities.

Communication Skills

• Use effective communication tools, verbal and non verbal to communicate treatment programmes to patients who may have barriers to understanding or communicating, e.g. visual impairment, hearing impairment, severe learning difficulties, or who do not have English as a first language.
• To be able to respond to questions from parents, carers and other agencies appropriately but recognise the need to report and refer back to the therapist as necessary.
• To contribute to development of patient care by attending relevant team, departmental or other appropriate meetings.
• To be able to provide information related to the child and their therapy programme to parents, carers and education staff.
• To be able to provide information related to a childs equipment and provide handover, training and support on the use of the equipment to parents, carers and education staff.
• To be able to adapt communication style and approach to ensure that information is shared appropriately.
• To identify and arrange additional support for parents and carers where there are potential barriers to communication e.g. request the use of an interpreter.

Planning and Organising Skills

• To manage and prioritise own patient caseload as delegated by the physiotherapist or occupational therapist.
• The Alder Hey Childrens NHS Foundation Trust is committed to supporting all staff to balance work and other life needs. This is the responsibility of all employees and will be achieved by consultation, open communication and involvement of all team members.

Responsibility for Patient

• To assist the therapist in the rehabilitation of patients using a range of delegated exercises and manual physical therapy treatments.
• To assess patient understanding of treatment proposals, gain valid informed consent and have the capacity to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.
• Deliver individual therapy programmes as provided by the physiotherapist or occupational therapist and to instruct patients and carers in the use of these.
• To liaise when appropriate with the therapist regarding patient care. In particular highlighting any variations to expected outcomes from treatment programmes you deliver.
• To be able at times to work without direct supervision in a variety of settings, including clinics, patients home, nurseries and schools and to be responsible for assessing patient progress and reporting back to the therapist.
• To undertake skilled support work to treat patients, both individually or in a group, without direct supervision or the presence of a therapist, making decisions relating to clinical presentation.
• To visit children in homes, schools and other settings, instructing parents and carers on the use of specialist equipment and to carry out safety checking of this equipment.
• To organise the repair and maintenance of therapy equipment with guidance and support from the therapist.
• To be responsible for ensuring that therapy equipment and aids used by patients are safe and that patients and carers have been instructed and are competent in their use

Responsibility for Policy/Service Development

• To have knowledge of and comply with organisational and departmental policies and procedures.
• To be aware of Health and Safety aspects of your work and implement any policies which may be required to improve the safety of your work area including your prompt recording of accidents and incidents to senior staff including participating in risk assessments.

Responsibility for Financial & Physical Resources

• To monitor and order both clinical and non-clinical supplies for the department. To participate in the use of the ordering system.
• To carry out safety checks of therapy equipment within a designated area and report and deal with faults accordingly.
• Be responsible for departmental administrative arrangements as required e.g. booking meeting rooms etc.
• To be responsible for the safe use of therapy equipment and aids used by patients in your care, including standing frames, seating, crutches, and orthotics.

Responsibility for Human Resources

• Actively participate in the PDP process in order to identify personal development plans and training needs.
• Monitor and develop own performance, aiming to achieve and maintain a high standard.
• To be accountable for all aspects of own work.
• To participate in in-service training and to contribute to the training programme.

- Please see full Job Description attached for more details -

Person Specification

Education and Training

• Educated to GCSE level or equivalent.
• Be prepared to work towards NVQ level II.
• NVQ II or equivalent experience.

Experience

• Evidence of working in a caring environment with children
• Experience with children with a disability/learning disability.
• Experience working in a community setting.

Knowledge

• Ability to recognise physical changes in the children's condition.
• Understand the concept of confidentiality.
• Ability to keep accurate and legible patient records and statistical information.
• Ability to carry out agreed treatment plans under the direction of a qualified therapist
• Knowledge of the role of a physiotherapist and occupational therapist within a paediatric community setting.
• Basic knowledge of childhood conditions that can affect the child's movement and development.
• Be able to recognise the differing needs of individual children.
• Evidence of attendance on relevant courses e.g. child protection, moving and handling.
• Basic understanding of normal child development.

Skills

• To be able to work with minimal supervision /unsupervised.
• Physical ability to carry out any therapeutic handling required.
• Evidence of good communication skills both written and verbal, enabling the post holder to communicate with professionals, carers and children and those who may have communication difficulties.
• Proven commitment to ongoing training.

Personal Attributes

• The ability to work flexibly.
• Current driving licence.
• Access to vehicle to use for business purposes.
• Ability to travel between locations in the community.
• Proven ability to compliment the dynamics of the existing team.

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such 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.

Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Ainsdale Centre for Health and Wellbeing

Ainsdale Centre for Health and Wellbeing