Physiotherapy Associate Practitioner

Freeman Hospital; Carthage (MO); On-site; USD 41,000 - 47,000; Part time

Benefits offered by this job

Flexible working

Job summary

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is seeking a Band 4 Physiotherapy Associate Practitioner. The role is 0.8 WTE (30 hours/week), split between Day Units and Respiratory Medicine, primarily at Freeman Hospital.

You will support outpatients and inpatients, help reduce falls risk, and work across MDT teams, with opportunities for development and flexible working. The post requires Foundation degree/NVQ4 or equivalent, and prior physiotherapy assistant experience.

Qualifications

• Foundation degree or NVQ level 4 with additional training in the specialty.
• Experience as Physiotherapy assistant/technical instructor in acute care or related field.
• Strong teamwork and clear communication.

Responsibilities

• Support the physiotherapy team in day units under supervision, for conditions like sarcopenia and Parkinson’s disease.
• Provide 1:1 therapy programmes and supervise hydrotherapy sessions where applicable.
• Order equipment and, when needed, visit patients’ homes to fit or supply items.
• Coordinate with respiratory medicine and other wards; data entry and audits.
• Supervise junior therapy assistants and contribute to quality improvements.

Skills

Communication skills

Initiative & autonomy

Caseload management

Clinical programming

Progress monitoring

Team player

Moving & handling

IT skills

Time management

Driving license

Education

Foundation degree / NVQ 4

Job description

• Urgent treatment centres

Physiotherapy Associate Practitioner

Band 4

Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest and largest NHS hospital trusts in the country. We have around 16,000 staff and an annual budget of £1.7 billion.

With strong history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence, research and innovation regionally, nationally and internationally, we’re in the top five providers of specialised health services in the country.

As well as providing a wide range of hospital and community services, we support people with a range of rare and complex medical, surgical and neurological conditions, cancers and genetic orders.

We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and is equipped to deliver the best service to our patients. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from under‑represented groups.

Newcastle Hospitals are proud to be one of the exemplar organisations across the NHS on sustainability, with a long history of delivering Sustainable Healthcare in Newcastle (Shine) and the first healthcare organisation in the world to declare a climate emergency. Our strategy includes commitments to being Net Zero by 2030, for our direct carbon footprint, and Net Zero by 2040 for our footprint plus. Delivering these ambitions will not be possible without the help, support and action of every single member of our team.

Job Overview

We have an exciting opportunity for a Band 4 Associate Practitioner to join our physiotherapy department.

The role is 0.8wte and is a split of 0.5wte in Day units (currently based at the Neighbourhood of Health Innovation (formally the Newcastle General Hospital site) and 0.3wte Respiratory Medicine at the Freeman Hospital. Day Units will be moving over to Freeman in October. In this role, the successful candidate will work with older outpatients to improve their health and reduce risk of falls. The post will also work across the Royal Victoria Infirmary and patient homes as required. The respiratory team covers a variety of medical wards such as respiratory, cardiology, renal, gastrointestinal and liver. This post will mainly work alongside the qualified physiotherapist on the renal wards. Both teams work closely with their MDT.

• Interview Date Tuesday 29 September 2026
• 30 Hours/Week
• You will be redirected to Trac to apply for the vacancy. Please expand the job details section and read all of the information before applying for the vacancy.

NO AGENCIES PLEASE

Main duties of the job

The main duties include (but are not limited to) –

Day units-

• support the group sessions under the supervision of a qualified therapist for a variety of conditions including sarcopenia, Parkinson’s disease, frailty and vestibular conditions
• hydrotherapy sessions also with the supervision of a qualified therapist
• assessment and provision of 1:1 therapy programmes.
• ordering equipment
• as required, attend patients’ home to fit or supply equipment
• managing waiting lists and booking appointments
• participating in quality improvements and attend in-service training
• data entry into databases and audits

Respiratory medicine –

• Carry out basic assessment and treatment of noncomplex inpatients
• To provide and deliver individualised exercise programme for long stay patients
• Co‑ordinate and supervise junior therapy assistants
• Ordering equipment
• Data entry including outcome measures

Working for our organisation

As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.

With around 2 million contacts with patients every year, we deliver care from:

• Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI)
• Freeman Hospital
• Newcastle Dental Hospital
• Cramlington Manor Walks
• Urgent treatment centres
• Newcastle Fertility Centre
• Northern Centre for Cancer Care, North Cumbria
• Northern Genetics Service

These include a range of flagship services which deliver cutting‑edge care (supported by state‑of‑the‑art diagnostic services in both radiology and pathology) and are a catalyst for innovation to support pioneering clinical practice in the NHS.

We also have offices at Regent Point in Gosforth and community sites.

Please see attached information on what Staff Benefits we have to offer at our Trust under ‘Documents to download’ or ‘Supporting documents’.

For further information on The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust please visit: Careers | Newcastle Hospitals | NHS | Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

The right candidate will be organised and enthusiastic. With such a role, we are looking for a candidate that has a positive attitude to the varied caseload and a team player. They should be keen to develop their skills. Training would be delivered across both teams and there are opportunities for development. Regular supervision will be set up with Senior team members. Both teams pride themselves on being inclusive. A strong ethos of high quality care is embedded and quality improvement is encouraged at all levels.

Days of work

Day Units- Tuesdays am/ Thursday and Friday

Respiratory medicine – Tuesday afternoon and all day Wednesdays

Please see the role‑descriptor for more details

Please do contact us if you would like to find out more via email

• To undertake specific skilled support work to aid the Physiotherapy team in the efficient and effective delivery of Physical Rehabilitation to patients within speciality area within the framework of clinical governance
• To accept a patient caseload referred by a physiotherapist according to specific criteria. To treat patients according to set protocols, monitoring patient progress, modifying and progressing patient treatment programmes as required, with referral back to physiotherapists as/when appropriate
• To carry out basic assessment and treatment of non‑complex patients as delegated by the physiotherapist (to include basic chest physiotherapy and mobility protocols)
• To provide and deliver individualised exercise programmes
• To accurately record rehabilitation progress as per Trust documentation / database including physiotherapeutic outcome measures
• To undertake a clinical caseload within speciality area , without supervision for at least 50% of the time within protocols and guidelines set by the designated physiotherapist
• To coordinate, supervise and teach junior therapy assistants

Person specification

Knowledge

Essential criteria

• Knowledge and understanding of clinical conditions and application of Physiotherapy Rehabilitation programmes for patients within speciality area
• Knowledge of physiotherapy outcome measures
• Knowledge of Physiotherapy Specialist Treatment adjuncts

Desirable criteria

• Knowledge of Physiotherapy Specialist Treatment adjuncts
• Associate member of Physiotherapy

Skills

Essential criteria

• Highly developed communication skills
• Ability to work using own initiative and manage own caseload
• Plan and provide clinical programmes of therapeutic activity within framework
• Monitor patient progress and make modifications
• Report risks and progress to the therapist
• Work as a member of a team
• Manage own caseload effectively and prioritise referrals
• Highly developed Moving and handling skills
• IT skills
• Time management skills and prioritisation of workload
• Current valid driving license for the UK if applicable to role

Desirable criteria

• Training others

Experience

Essential criteria

• Previous experience as a Physiotherapy assistant/ Technical instructor in acute care/ related speciality
• Effective team working

Desirable criteria

• Previous experience as a Physiotherapy Associate Practitioner within speciality area

Qualification

Essential criteria

• Foundation Degree or NVQ level 4 or NVQ level 3 with additional training in the speciality field or equivalent evidence of underpinning knowledge
• Sound general education inclusive of literacy and numeracy

Important note on completion of reference section of Application Form

All references from current and previous employers will be sought and must cover a minimum of 3 years employment. Therefore, when completing the reference section of your application form, please give the address, telephone number and work email address of each of your current/previous line managers that cover 3 years employment. Failure to complete this section may result in your application not being processed.

Please note it is a requirement of The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that all successful candidates who require a DBS for the post they have been offered pay for their DBS certificate. The method of payment is a salary deduction from your first month’s pay.

Candidates who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e‑mail. You should check your SPAM folders as well as your inbox. If you have not been contacted within 4 weeks of the closing date you should assume your application has been unsuccessful.

Applicant requirements

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.

Documents to download

• JD & PS (PDF, 162.5KB)
• Role Descriptor (PDF, 200.4KB)
• Newcastle Staff Benefits (PDF, 274.4KB)
• Behaviour and Civility Charter (PDF, 93.8KB)