Remote First Contact Physiotherapist-Home Based

NHS Jobs; United States; Remote; USD 57,000 - 75,000; Full time

Job summary

MBPCC is recruiting a Remote First Contact Physiotherapist to work from home, delivering MSK consultations by telephone and video. You will assess, diagnose and manage working-age adults, using structured remote assessment and validated outcomes, while aligning with Enable and NHS pathways.

Based in the UK, you will gradually participate in a multidisciplinary team, contribute to workability plans and fit notes, and support return-to-work goals through evidence-based management and patient

Qualifications

• Assess and diagnose adults with undifferentiated MSK conditions by remote methods.
• Screen for red flags and escalate urgent concerns the same day.
• Provide evidence-based management including education, self-management and exercise prescription.
• Record data accurately in EMIS and comply with governance requirements.

Responsibilities

• Conduct remote clinical assessments via telephone and video.
• Deliver work-focused plans to support return to work.
• Act as MSK lead within the Enable team and provide guidance to colleagues.

Skills

Autonomous practice

Remote assessment

MSK expertise

HCPC registered

Education

HCPC registration

Tools

EMIS

AccuRx

Microsoft Teams

X-on Surgery Connect

Job description

Remote First Contact Physiotherapist-Home Based

This is a home-based post Home-based: you will work from your home in the UK, delivering consultations by telephone and video. UK only: you must live in the UK and carry out all work from within the UK. In person at the start: you must be willing to travel to MBPCC head office in Kirkby Lonsdale, LA6 6HQ to collect your equipment and attend a face-to-face induction. Suitable environment: you must have a private, secure and suitable space to work from, with reliable broadband. Audit and monitoring: your home working arrangements, records and information governance compliance will be audited and monitored. About Enable and MBPCC Enable is one of four national pilots funded by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to test a better fit note process, and it is the most clinical of the four. MBPCC delivers it under an NHS contract across the Barrow and Mid Furness Primary Care Networks. For participating practices, every fit note is issued by the multidisciplinary Enable service rather than the GP practice. There is no change to fit note legislation, so every patient still needs a valid, signed fit note. Working patients who agree to take part receive a workability assessment and a personalised workability plan that focuses on what they can do and how to stay in, or return to, work. Employers are contacted only with the patient's explicit agreement. The pilot generates data and learning for the DWP to shape future national policy. The service uses EMIS, AccuRx, X-on Surgery Connect and Florey questionnaires. This post is home-based: consultations are delivered by telephone and video, and the post holder works with the Enable team through Microsoft Teams and the service's clinical systems. Job purpose The First Contact Physiotherapist is the Enable team's MSK specialist for working-age adults whose MSK condition affects their ability to work. Working from home, you will assess, diagnose and manage patients referred through Enable triage by telephone and video, without the need for a GP appointment, and agree a work-focused plan that supports them to stay in or return to work. You will also be the team's source of MSK expertise. You will advise and upskill colleagues completing workability plans, and help shape how the pilot manages MSK presentations. Patients needing investigation, hands-on examination, specialist or longer-term treatment are referred on through agreed pathways. Key responsibilities Clinical assessment and management Work as an autonomous first contact practitioner, assessing and diagnosing adults with undifferentiated MSK conditions by telephone and video, using structured remote assessment, including guided self-examination and observed movement over video where appropriate. Screen for serious pathology and red flags at every contact, and escalate urgent concerns the same day through the GP and relevant emergency or specialist pathways. Where a hands-on examination is clinically necessary to reach a safe decision, arrange face-to-face assessment through agreed pathways (for example the patient's practice or the local MSK service) and record the rationale. Provide evidence-based management including advice, education, self-management support and exercise prescription, using approved digital resources, and agree realistic goals with each patient. Give the patient's GP and the referring clinician clear, concise feedback, including any recommendations on medication for the prescriber to consider. Use validated outcome measures at agreed points (such as the MSK-HQ and the Work and Social Adjustment Scale) to track progress and inform decisions. Work within your professional registration, accredited competencies, local commissioning arrangements and the MBPCC governance framework. Request investigations where permitted by professional standards, local policy and individual competency sign-off, including diagnostic imaging and pathology tests relevant to musculoskeletal assessment and management. Requests must be clinically justified, recorded in the patient record and made in line with local referral and diagnostic pathways. Discuss with, or refer to, the Enable Clinical Lead, GP or other appropriately qualified clinician any investigation or referral outside your authorised scope of practice. Maintain evidence of competency for all investigation requesting activity and take part in audit and clinical supervision arrangements. Work and health Complete workability assessments and workability plans for patients whose main barrier to work is an MSK condition. Assess the physical demands of the patient's job and recommend practical adjustments (phased return, amended hours or duties, workplace or equipment changes). With the patient's explicit agreement only, communicate with employers by telephone, video or in writing to support adjustments and a sustainable return to work. Assess fitness for work and issue fit notes in line with DWP guidance, once signed off as competent by the Clinical Lead. Physiotherapists are legally able to certify fit notes. Meet the service turnaround standards for fit notes and workability plans, raising early any capacity pressures that put them at risk. Multidisciplinary working and advice Act as the MSK lead within the Enable team, giving same-day advice by Teams or telephone to Occupational Health Nurses, the ANP and other colleagues on MSK presentations. Take part in virtual multidisciplinary case discussions and present complex cases, particularly where physical and mental health needs overlap. Develop and deliver short virtual training sessions for the team on MSK conditions, red flags and work-focused conversations. Records, data and governance Keep accurate, contemporaneous clinical records in EMIS, using the agreed Enable templates and codes, and use AccuRx and Florey questionnaires as the service requires. Record the data items needed for the DWP evaluation fully and on time. Data accuracy is a condition of the pilot's funding. Check that each patient's consent and eligibility for the service and for DWP data sharing are in place before completing a workability plan, and follow the Enable privacy notice. Report incidents, near misses and safeguarding concerns through MBPCC processes, and take part in audit, case review and service evaluation. Service development Help design and refine the Enable MSK pathway, including triage criteria, referral thresholds and escalation routes, as the pilot moves from the first two practices to all practices in both PCNs. Feed patient experience and clinical learning into pilot meetings and DWP reporting. Contribute to written protocols, patient information and the final pilot evaluation. Professional development Maintain HCPC registration and practise in line with the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) Code of Professional Values and Behaviour. Attend monthly clinical supervision (delivered virtually) and annual appraisal, and use reflective practice to improve your work. Complete MBPCC mandatory training and the DWP fit note training for healthcare professionals. Working arrangements Contract and hours This is a fixed-term post funded through the national pilot. Continuation beyond the pilot period cannot be guaranteed and is subject to national decisions on the future of the model. The post holder will be expected to work in a rapidly evolving service where processes, systems and documentation change during the pilot period. This is a home-based post. MBPCC's Homeworking, Hybrid Working and Remote Learning Guidance applies in full, and the post holder remains subject to the same professional, contractual, governance and performance expectations as staff working from MBPCC premises. Location and in-person attendance Live in the UK and carry out all work from a UK address for the duration of employment. Working from outside the UK is not permitted. Deliver patient consultations remotely by telephone and video, using MBPCC-approved systems only. Travel to MBPCC head office at the start of employment to collect MBPCC equipment and to attend a face-to-face induction. Attend MBPCC head office again where equipment needs to be collected, exchanged or returned, including at the end of employment. Suitable home working environment Have a suitable, dedicated workspace that supports concentration, minimises distractions and enables professional communication. Ensure consultations and confidential conversations cannot be overheard, and that screens cannot be seen by family members, visitors or anyone else not authorised to view them. Have a suitable desk or workstation, appropriate seating, adequate lighting, ventilation and heating, and reliable internet access sufficient for video consultations and clinical systems. Use a headset whenever patient or confidential information is being discussed, and use the MBPCC background on video calls. Complete the MBPCC Homeworking Self-Assessment (including display screen equipment) and sign the Employee Homeworking Agreement before starting, and tell your manager of any significant change to your home working arrangements. Home working is not a replacement for childcare or dependant care arrangements. Where caring responsibilities affect your ability to work, discuss this with your manager.