Lead Community Therapist

Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust; Chester; On-site; GBP 55,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Lead Community Therapist to provide visible clinical and operational leadership across a diverse portfolio of therapy services in West Cheshire. The role offers opportunity to influence patient care, develop teams and shape integrated therapy services across hospital and community settings.

The post requires an inspirational senior therapist with strong leadership, communication and change-management skills to support safe patient

Qualifications

• Degree in one of the four therapy areas or equivalent.
• HCPC Registration is required.
• Evidence of postgraduate training or equivalent is expected.

Responsibilities

• Provide confident, compassionate clinical and operational leadership for therapy services.
• Lead and develop a large multidisciplinary workforce of therapists and support staff.
• Collaborate with health partners to strengthen integrated working and improve patient flow.

Education

Degree in one of four therapy areas (Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Dietetics or Speech and Language Therapy)

HCPC Registration

Evidence of Postgraduate Training or equivalent

Job description

Cheshire and Wirral Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

Lead Community Therapist

The closing date is 24 November 2026

West Cheshire Collaborative is looking for an inspirational and experienced Lead Community Therapist to provide visible clinical and operational leadership across a diverse portfolio of services. This is an exciting opportunity to influence patient care, develop talented teams and help shape integrated therapy services across hospital and community settings.

We are seeking a credible and collaborative senior therapist with the ambition and skills to lead services in a complex, fast-moving environment. You will bring strong clinical and operational leadership, sound judgement and the ability to inspire others through change. Excellent communication, interpersonal and diplomatic skills are essential, together with a passion for delivering safe, effective and person-centred care.

This is a rare opportunity to join a forward-thinking and dynamic collaborative where your leadership will have a visible impact. The role is challenging, varied and highly rewarding, offering you the chance to shape an outstanding community therapy service for people, families and healthcare colleagues across West Cheshire.

Main duties of the job

You will lead therapy teams supporting Pinetum beds, the rehabilitation wards at Ellesmere Port Hospital, Paediatric Therapy Services and Community Therapy teams. Working across the Countess of Chester Hospital, Ellesmere Port Hospital and local community bases, you will:

• Provide confident, compassionate clinical and operational leadership.
• Lead, support and develop a large multidisciplinary workforce of therapists and support staff.
• Work closely with health, primary care and local authority partners to strengthen integrated working.
• Support safe, timely patient flow and effective discharge through Pathways 1 and 2.
• Ensure high standards of quality, governance, performance and resource management.
• Drive service transformation in line with local, regional and national priorities.
• Maintain a focused clinical caseload to retain professional expertise and clinical credibility.

About us

Cheshire and Wirral Partnership (CWP) provides health and care services for a population of over one million people, including mental health, learning disability, community physical health and all-age disability care, as well as the provision of three GP surgeries in Cheshire.

We employ around 4,500 staff across 73 sites and have services across Wirral and Cheshire, as well as Trafford, Warrington, Bolton, Halton, Liverpool and Stockport.

Our aim is to help improve the lives of everyone in our communities, adopting a compassionate, person-centred approach to everything we do. We are rated as Outstanding for Caring by the Care Quality Commission, with a Good rating overall.

As a Disability Confident Employer, Rainbow Badge Scheme member, Veteran Aware organisation and proud holder of the Armed Forces Covenant Employer Recognition Scheme Gold Award, CWP is committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible and developing a culture that values differences, and welcome applications from people who have direct experience of accessing our services.

All new starters will commence in post on one fixed start date each month, in line with our Prepare to Care (P2C) induction programme date. P2C offers up to 3 weeks training to support you to meet the induction / initial training requirements of the role.

Whether you are just starting out in your career or looking to use your existing skills and experience in a new role, you'll find something to suit you at CWP.

Job responsibilities

At CWP, our recruitment selection processes are based on both competence (see person specification for details) and values.

CWP recruits people that can demonstrate the Trusts Values in their everyday life and we use a values-based approach in our interviews, which explores not only what you do but how and why you do it.

Before applying, we encourage you to review the Trusts Values and think about how these align with your own personal values. The supporting information section in your application should reflect your understanding of the Trusts Values and associated behaviours and you should provide examples from your work experience and/or personal life which demonstrate these values through your behaviours.

If you have a disability that meets the definition set out in the Equality Act 2010, and you can show that you meet the essential criteria described in the person specification for an available position, please answer YES to the question: Do you wish to be considered under the Guaranteed Interview Scheme?

Please inform the team if you have any special support needs to be considered as part of the interview and selection processes.

The trust offers a Guaranteed Interview Scheme to any armed forces community applicants who meet the essential criteria for the post and encourages applications from armed forces reservists or cadet force adult volunteers.

Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs are deducted from salary following appointment. You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of £16 per year applies.

New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.

Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.

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

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Degree in one of four therapy areas (Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, Dietetics or Speech and Language Therapy) or equivalent
• HCPC Registration
• Evidence of Postgraduate Training or equivalent }}, "IsExpired":false }