Physiotherapy Lead

Hollybank Trustees Ltd; Fingal; On-site; EUR 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

CareChoice invites applications for a Full-time Physiotherapy Lead across ABI and rehabilitation services. The role combines professional governance with hands-on clinical leadership and a clinical caseload.

It supports service development in Swords and Ballynoe and reports to the AHP Lead within CareChoice. The successful candidate will lead governance, supervision, education and workforce planning across designated sites, ensuring safe, evidence-based practice in line with CORU and HIQA

Qualifications

• Annual CORU registration and compliance with professional conduct.
• Experience in leadership, governance, and supervision in rehabilitation services.
• Knowledge of HIQA standards and integrated care planning.

Responsibilities

• Provide leadership and governance for physiotherapy services across ABI and rehabilitation.
• Maintain a clinical caseload while leading the team.
• Support service development in Swords and Ballynoe.
• Ensure supervision arrangements and workforce planning.
• Monitor quality, risk and incident management.

Skills

Leadership

Governance

Clinical supervision

CORU registration

Multidisciplinary teamwork

Education

CORU Registered Physiotherapist

Job description

Location: On site / Townparks, Swords, Co. Dublin, K67 F5D0, Ireland
job type: Permanent / Full-time
Sector and subsector: Medical & Healthcare | Physiotherapist
Salary: Competitive salary

Join Our Team as a Full-Time Physiotherapy Lead across CareChoice's ABI & Rehabilitation services.

Are you a dedicated and passionate Physiotherapist seeking an exciting opportunity to make a meaningful impact? Look no further! We are hiring for CareChoice Swords while supporting service developments in CareChoice Ballynoe, and we're inviting full time applications to join our dynamic team.

Why Choose CareChoice?

At CareChoice, we are committed to revolutionising the healthcare experience. With a legacy of over two decades in the Nursing Homes Sector, we are embarking on a journey to become the most trusted and respected Nursing Home brand in Ireland.

Purpose of Role

The Physiotherapy Lead will provide professional leadership and governance for physiotherapy services across designated CareChoice ABI and rehabilitation services. The post holder will support safe, consistent and evidence-based practice through supervision, education, clinical support, quality assurance and service development, while maintaining a clinical caseload appropriate to the remit and protected leadership responsibilities of the role.

The role will initially focus on strengthening the physiotherapy service in Swords and supporting service development in Ballynoe. The post holder will work closely with the AHP Lead, site management, senior physiotherapists and the wider multidisciplinary team to establish clear standards, effective supervision arrangements and a sustainable model of physiotherapy provision.

Role Boundaries and Accountability

The Physiotherapy Lead reports to the AHP Lead for professional governance, priorities, performance and service development. The post holder will work within each site's governance arrangements and in partnership with the Person in Charge, Director of Nursing or other relevant operational manager.

Senior physiotherapists will retain responsibility for routine day-to-day caseload allocation, local workflow and clinical prioritisation within their assigned service. The Physiotherapy Lead will provide the framework, oversight, advice and escalation required to support consistent and equitable allocation, and may intervene where there is a significant risk, service pressure or unresolved professional issue. The role does not remove the individual professional accountability of any physiotherapist for their own practice or decisions.

Principal Duties and Responsibilities

Professional Leadership and Governance

• Provide visible, accessible professional leadership to physiotherapists and Physiotherapy Assistants across the designated services.
• Establish and monitor a consistent physiotherapy governance framework aligned with CareChoice policies, CORU requirements, relevant legislation, HIQA standards and current evidence.
• Clarify professional roles, scope of practice, delegation, escalation and accountability arrangements across the physiotherapy team.
• Advise the AHP Lead and site management on physiotherapy risks, workforce requirements, service pressures, competence concerns and priorities for improvement.
• Promote effective multidisciplinary working and ensure that physiotherapy recommendations are integrated into rehabilitation care planning, risk management and discharge planning.
• Contribute professional advice to recruitment, induction, probation, performance development and workforce planning, as requested by the AHP Lead.

Clinical Practice and Support

• Maintain a clinical caseload proportionate to the leadership remit, focusing where appropriate on complex cases, clinical review, service transition and support to less experienced staff.
• Provide clinical advice and joint review for residents with complex mobility, balance, falls, tone, positioning, respiratory, transfer, rehabilitation or discharge needs within the post holder's competence.
• Support person-centred assessment, goal setting, intervention and review for people with acquired brain injury and other complex rehabilitation needs.
• Promote safe manual handling, transfer and mobility practice and appropriate assessment, prescription, use and review of physiotherapy equipment, slings and sensor alarms in accordance with CareChoice procedures.
• Recognise the limits of personal competence and obtain additional specialist neurological or other clinical advice when a resident's needs fall outside those limits.
• Support timely escalation of clinical deterioration, significant changes in mobility or function, adverse events and other resident-safety concerns.

Supervision Delegation and Competence

• Ensure that every physiotherapist and Physiotherapy Assistant within the remit has a clearly identified and suitably experienced supervisor, with the frequency and format of supervision proportionate to role, competence and service need.
• Provide formal supervision directly where assigned and support senior physiotherapists to supervise staff grade physiotherapists, assistants and students effectively.
• Establish documented supervision arrangements covering clinical reasoning, caseload management, reflective practice, development objectives, competence, risk and agreed actions.
• Ensure work delegated to Physiotherapy Assistants follows assessment and prescription by a physiotherapist and is appropriate to the assistant's role, competence and level of supervision.
• Support competency assessment and development in priority areas, including neurological rehabilitation, transfers, mobility, falls prevention, outcome measurement, equipment and documentation.
• Provide clear and timely feedback and elevate significant concerns about competence, conduct, documentation or resident safety to the AHP Lead and relevant operational manager in accordance with CareChoice procedures.

Education and Professional Development

• Identify team learning needs and coordinate an annual physiotherapy education and competency plan linked to service risk, audit findings and development priorities.
• Deliver or coordinate induction, in-service education, case-based learning, skills development and relevant interdisciplinary training.
• Build links with external neurological rehabilitation expertise and professional networks and facilitate specialist input where required.
• Support practice education for physiotherapy students and the development of staff as practice educators, where placements are provided.
• Maintain personal continuing professional development in leadership, supervision and ABI or neurological rehabilitation relevant to the evolving service.

Service Coordination and Development

• Work with senior physiotherapists to support fair, transparent and clinically appropriate caseload allocation and prioritisation across each service.
• Review demand, capacity, skill mix and activity data and make recommendations to the AHP Lead regarding staffing, resources and service configuration.
• Lead or support the development and implementation of physiotherapy pathways, procedures, standardised assessments, outcome measures and documentation standards.
• Support the mobilisation and development of physiotherapy provision in Ballynoe and other relevant sites, including workforce readiness, induction, governance, equipment and links with referral partners.
• Promote continuity at admission, transfer and discharge through timely assessment, communication, reports, equipment planning and liaison with relevant services.

Quality Safety and Regulatory Compliance

• Develop and monitor a proportionate physiotherapy quality programme, including audit, service evaluation, key performance indicators, outcome measures and improvement plans.
• Monitor the quality and timeliness of physiotherapy assessments, care-plan contributions, progress notes, reports, referrals and discharge documentation in EpicCare.
• Review physiotherapy-related incidents, complaints, risks and near misses with relevant managers, identify learning and monitor completion of agreed actions.
• Support preparation for and participation in HIQA inspections, internal reviews and other assurance activity relevant to physiotherapy and rehabilitation services.
• Ensure physiotherapy equipment governance includes assessment, procurement advice, safe use, maintenance arrangements, stock oversight and staff competence.
• Handle personal and clinical information in accordance with GDPR, confidentiality requirements and CareChoice records-management policies.

Communication and Working Relationships

• Develop effective working relationships with residents, families and representatives, the AHP Lead, senior physiotherapists, Physiotherapy Assistants, nursing and care teams, site managers and the wider MDT.
• Represent physiotherapy at relevant governance, service-development, case-review and external stakeholder meetings as agreed with the AHP Lead.
• Communicate complex clinical and service information clearly, respectfully and in accessible formats, adapting communication to the needs of people with cognitive, communication or behavioural difficulties.
• Promote a culture in which staff can seek advice, raise concerns and learn from incidents and feedback.

Management and Administration

• Agree an annual work plan and priorities with the AHP Lead and provide concise reports on service quality, workforce, risks, activity and development.
• Use CareChoice information systems accurately and support consistent collection and interpretation of physiotherapy service data.
• Contribute to business cases, resource proposals, policy review and service planning within the remit of the post.
• Manage time and travel across locations effectively and maintain sufficient visibility and availability to the teams supported.
• Undertake other duties appropriate to the level and professional scope of the post, as assigned by the AHP Lead.

Person Specification

The post holder must maintain annual CORU registration and comply with the CORU Code of Professional Conduct and Ethics, relevant legislation, CareChoice policies and the requirements of the designated services in which they work. Garda vetting, occupational health clearance and mandatory training requirements will apply in accordance with CareChoice procedures.

The scope and location of the role may develop as CareChoice ABI and rehabilitation services expand.