Physiotherapist (Respiratory)

Chelwest; Greater London; On-site; GBP 49,000 - 57,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Job summary

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Band 7 Physiotherapist in Respiratory and Critical Care in London. The post covers inpatient respiratory, critical care and respiratory outpatients, with teaching responsibilities for junior staff.

You will join a MDT, contribute to seven-day services and support a high standard of patient care across sites. Applicants must be HCPC registered, have UK respiratory experience and strong leadership and teaching skills to develop a

Qualifications

• HCPC registration and current fitness to practise.
• Experience in inpatient and outpatient respiratory care.
• Strong leadership and mentoring skills.

Responsibilities

• Undertake a team leader role planning, delivering and evaluating the physiotherapy service for critically ill patients and others.
• Deputise for Clinical Lead Therapist as required.
• Perform advanced assessment and autonomous treatment with highly complex presentations.
• Lead supervision of senior/junior therapists, instructors, and students.
• Participate in 7-day service coverage and on-call rotas.

Skills

Respiratory physiotherapy

Clinical leadership

Team supervision

HCPC registration

English proficiency

Job description

We are an award winning organisation providing care at two main hospital sites—Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and West Middlesex University Hospital—and a number of community-based services across London, such as sexual health and HIV clinics.

With 6,700 members of staff, we are proud to care for a diverse population of one million people. We are committed to ensuring that our workforce is just as diverse with a strong mix of skills and abilities.

Our staff are at the very heart of our organisation and we recognise the valuable contribution that each and every person working at the Trust makes. One of our Trust priorities is to be an employer of choice—a place where people want to start their career and to grow with us through continued education, professional development and support .

Main area Band 7 Physiotherapist, Respiratory and Critical Care Grade NHS AfC: Band 7 Contract Fixed term: 12 months (Open to part time/full time and job shares) Hours

• Full time
• Part time
• Job share
• Flexible working

37.5 hours per week ((Recruitment for up to 1 WTE/open to job share)) Job ref 289-CS-562

Site Chelsea & Westminster Hospital Town London Salary £49,387 - £56,515 per annum plus HCAS Salary period Yearly Closing 08/10/2026 23:59

Job overview

B7 Physiotherapist Respiratory and Critical Care

Chelsea & Westminster Hospital
An opportunity has arisen for a band 7 Respiratory Physiotherapist to work as part of a team - covering in-patient respiratory, critical care and respiratory outpatients. This will also include working on enhanced care, respiratory wards and ICU. You will be responsible for teaching and supervising Band 5 and Band 6 physiotherapists. The successful applicant will work closely with the other leads for inpatient therapy services and other members of the MDT, ensuring seamless care for patients in the hospital. Support will be provided from the Clinical Lead Physiotherapist.

We are looking for an enthusiastic and dynamic individual with proven respiratory clinical skills and clinical leadership skills. We require excellent interpersonal skills, demonstrated dedication to personal development and a commitment to provide high quality care to a range of patients with differing needs.

The therapy department has recently completed a successful consultation to organise working patterns of staff to cover a current 7 day service provision within their contracted hours. This will strengthen the current 7 day provision and provide a safe, efficient sustainable service.

You must be registered with the HCPC and have a high level of written and spoken English. You must have UK (or equivalent health care system) experience in respiratory in both inpatient and outpatient settings.

Main duties of the job

1. Undertake a team leader role in planning, co-ordinating, delivering and evaluating the Physiotherapy Service provided to critically ill patients and other medical and surgical patients across the hospital.
2. Deputise for Clinical Lead Therapist as required.
3. Perform advanced assessment of patients including those with highly complex presentations and from this formulate a diagnosis and treatment plan which is carried out as an autonomous practitioner.
4. Be responsible for own caseload and be responsible for a defined area of service or a particular patient type, working without direct supervision (Supervision takes the form of regular formal training, clinical reasoning sessions and peer review.)
5. Working collaboratively with the Clinical Lead Therapist to take a lead role in the supervision, teaching and appraisal of senior, junior, technical instructors, therapy assistants, physiotherapy students and other members of the multi-disciplinary team.
6. Initiates and participates in evidence based projects and be responsible for implementing changes within your designated team setting and monitoring standards of practice.
7. Participate in the emergency duty on call service and unsocial hours rotas as required by the clinical needs of the service.

Working for our organisation

Chelsea and Westminster Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is one of England's top-performing and safest trusts. We operate two main acute hospital sites—Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and West Middlesex University Hospital—along with award-winning clinics across North West London.

Our nearly 7,500 staff care for a diverse population of 1.5 million, providing full clinical services, including maternity, A&E, and children’s services, plus specialist HIV and sexual health clinics. The Care Quality Commission rates us 'Good' in safety, effectiveness, care, and responsiveness, and 'Outstanding' in leadership and resource use.

We continually invest in our facilities, including a £30m expansion of critical care at Chelsea and Westminster and an £80m Ambulatory Diagnostic Centre at West Middlesex.

We welcome applications for flexible working arrangements, accommodating requests where possible to support our staff and patient needs.

The Trust is committed to equality and welcomes applications from all, regardless of background. Adjustments can be made for disabled candidates. Early application is advised as vacancies may close once sufficient applications are received. If you haven’t heard from us within three weeks of the closing date, your application was likely unsuccessful. Employment is subject to a six-month probationary period.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To maintain own continuous professional development (CPD) and incorporate new trends and developments into practice. To be an active member of in-service training programmes. To attend and contribute as appropriate at staff meetings, tutorials, training sessions, courses, other CPD activities and to undertake reflective practice.

To maintain comprehensive and accurate assessment and treatment records in line with legal, professional, Trust and departmental policies and guidelines.

To train, supervise and performance manage other physiotherapists, technical instructors, assistants and students (this will include the use of formal appraisal documentation).

To provide leadership and peer support to physiotherapists and support workers within the paediatric physiotherapy team.

To demonstrate and apply a sound understanding of Clinical Governance and Risk Management, and encourage others to do likewise.

ORGANISATIONAL

To have an active role in the planning, development, coordination, delivery and evaluation of the critical care and respiratory medicine physiotherapy service.

To provide support to the clinical team leader in the daily operational management for the physiotherapy team.

To act as a mentor for physiotherapy colleagues, providing clinical and professional support on a regular basis.

To delegate to, supervise and monitor senior and staff grade physiotherapists, students and support workers.

To manage priorities for the Critical Care and Respiratory medicine physiotherapy team, balancing patient related and professional/managerial demands within available resources; ensuring that these remain service led.

To deputise for senior staff /Clinical Lead as required.

To ensure that physiotherapy equipment is suitable for the needs of the patient and facilities/environment are maintained in safe order.

To collect data and statistics for reporting purposes.

To carry out designated departmental/service responsibilities.

To be aware of Health and Safety legislation and to comply with policies relating to the work area, including risk assessment and the prompt recording and reporting of incidents and ‘near misses’. To take necessary precautions to safeguard the welfare and safety of yourself and others.

To have an active role in developing, reviewing and updating departmental policies, procedures and guidelines relating to physiotherapy management of critical care patients.

To have an active role in the recruitment of new staff.

To comply with Trust and departmental policies, procedures and standards. To be involved in reviewing and updating departmental policies and procedures as required.

Effort

To carry out assessment and treatment using manual and therapeutic handling techniques which require moderate to high physical effort and intense concentration and vigilance for the vast majority of each working day.

To be interrupted frequently throughout the day to deal with bleeps, requests for assistance/advice from other staff, administrative enquiries and urgent referrals.

To comply with the trust manual handling policy at all times.

To deal sensitively with patients and carers who have a high level of anxiety or aggression due to, for example, pain, fear, dementia or failed expectations.

To be able to convey sympathetically unwelcome news regarding functional progress and diagnosis to patients and carers.

To travel between sites and patients’ homes as required using own, hospital or public transport and to take responsibility for the safety of patients, therapists and assistants while on these visits.

Communication

To use a range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools to communicate effectively with patients and carers and to ensure understanding of condition. Patients/carers may require clarification of clinical decisions or investigations, potential outcomes and the implications for the patient/family. This may include highly sensitive/emotive information.

To use skills of persuasion, motivation, explanation, and empathy to encourage patients to undertake their treatment programme and optimise rehabilitation potential and/or quality of life. Barriers to effective communication may regularly be evident, e.g.: altered perception, age, dysphasia, pain, psychological/emotional status.

To use specific skills to communicate with patients who, for example, depend on sign languages, communication boards etc.

To communicate patient related information effectively, to facilitate co-ordinated services and ensure seamless collaborative working with the multidisciplinary team (MDT) and multi-agencies. This may include case conferences, handovers