Head of Adult Physiotherapy

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Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust, (LGT), is a community-focused provider of local and acute care, delivering high-quality services to over one million people living across the London boroughs of Lewisham, Greenwich, and Bexley. We provide whole-life care and are here to support our communities to live healthier lives as well as taking care of them when they need us the most.

Employing almost 7,500 colleagues, affectionately known as Team LGT, we provide services at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich, University Hospital Lewisham, and at over a dozen community settings in Lewisham. We also provide some services at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup.

We have recently launched our new vision and values to mark the LGT10 - the tenth anniversary of our Trust forming in 2013. Our trust vision is to be exceptional. In the quality of our patient care; our support for colleagues; and in the difference we make through our partnerships and in our communities.

To achieve this we value Respect, Compassion, and Inclusion; Being accountable over staying comfortable; Listening over always knowing best; and Succeeding together over achieving alone. You can read more about our visions and values here

Our hospitals and community sites provide a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services, as well as emergency and planned care. The Trust is rated as "good" or "outstanding" in over three-quarters of the services inspected by the Care Quality Commission.

Every year our work includes performing 10,000 procedures in our theatres; bringing seven and a half thousand new lives into the world; carrying out 570,000 visits to patients in their homes or communities and providing emergency care for more than 300,000 patients arriving in our busy Urgent and Emergency Departments.

LGT is a centre for the education and training of medical students enrolled with King's College London's GKT School of Medical Education. We are a training centre for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals. We are pioneering new roles that will support the changing needs of our patients and are one of the largest employers of physician associates in the country.

We are committed to working with our partners to deliver the best outcomes for our local communities. This means playing an active role in the South East London Integrated Care System (ICS), and in formal partnerships including the South East London Acute Provider Collaborative, provider partnerships with our local mental health trusts and borough-based boards of the ICS in Bexley, Greenwich and Lewisham.

Job overview

Head of Adult Physiotherapy, Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust

Full time or flexible working considered

This is a an exciting opportunity for a passionate and experienced Physiotherapist with expert clinical skills and proven operational leadership experience to join Lewisham and Greenwich NHS Trust (LGT) as the Head of Adult Physiotherapy (8b).

Main duties of the job

The focus of the role is to provide clinical and professional leadership to Physiotherapists working in our adult services across the Trust. You will have an innovative approach and will set the roadmap to progress Physiotherapy professional issues at LGT, in areas such as advanced practice, apprenticeships, student placements, preceptorship and continuing professional development. You should be an experienced clinician with expertise in your chosen field and ability to deliver highly advanced assessment and intervention. You will need to have an up to date knowledge of current physiotherapy practice.

You will also provide accountability and operational leadership to Physiotherapy services on the acute sites at University Hospital Lewisham and Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where you will support the band 8a Operational Leads leading Inpatient and Outpatient services on these sites.

As the Head of Adult Physiotherapy you will join 8b counterparts in Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Therapy, Nutrition and Dietetics, and Podiatry and Orthotics in a leadership group as part of a leadership restructure of AHPs at the Trust. Your role will be to champion Physiotherapy at the Trust, whilst working closely as an AHP peer group.

Working for our organisation

Our people are our greatest asset. When we feel supported and happy at work, this positivity reaches those very people we are here for, the patients. Engaged employees perform at their best and our Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) initiatives contribute to cultivate a culture of engagement. We have four staff networks, a corporate EDI Team and a suite of programmes and events which aim to insert the 5 aspirations:

1. Improving representation at senior levels of staff with disabilities, from black, Asian, and ethnic minorities background, identify as LGBTQ+ and women, through improved recruitment and leadership development
2. Widening access (anchor institution) and employability
3. Improving the experience of staff with disability
4. Improving the EDI literacy and confidence of trust staff through training and development
5. Making equalities mainstream

In Therapies, you will join a friendly, supportive and inclusive working culture motivated to deliver quality patient care in an environment of positive staff welfare and engagement. Reporting to the Head of Therapies, podiatry and dietetics, you will be a key player in promoting these positive values. You will need excellent leadership skills, drive, and a passion for Physiotherapy and leadership. You will be an expert communicator with the skills to influence across operational and professional boundaries.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To be responsible for the strategic direction and service development of Physiotherapy initiatives across Lewisham and Greenwich Trust (LGT).

To provide clinical, professional and operational leadership to the adult Physiotherapy services at Lewisham and Greenwich Trust (LGT).

To deliver a highly specialised and advanced standard of assessment, treatment and Physiotherapy management for patients within LGT.

To be the professional lead for adult Physiotherapy at Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH), UHL and relevant community services.

Person specification

Qualifications & Training

Essential criteria

• Degree leading to licence to practice as a Physiotherapist
• Evidence of continuous professional development including a recognised long course or Masters
• HCPC registration

Desirable criteria

• Management Training

Experience

Essential criteria

• Broad experience post qualification, with significant experience across patient pathways ( inpatient , outpatient, community)
• Experience of team leadership and effecting change
• Working knowledge of current national and local health care issues.
• Experience of teaching /supervising under- and post- graduate staff.
• Experience of budget responsibility.

Knowledge & Skills

Essential criteria

• Excellent communication skills across the organisation and with a wide range of staff with differing levels of responsibility and different professional backgrounds
• Experience of dealing with complex issues in a large organisation
• Ability to work pro-actively and co-operatively with senior management and clinical staff, including at times of stress.
• Knowledge and experience of standard setting, quality issues and clinical audit, and an understanding of clinical governance.
• Ability to undertake evaluation of the service.
• Knowledge of service activity measures and clinical outcome measures

We reserve the right to close the post before the stated closing date, please apply early. We do not contact applicants with the outcome of the shortlisting. If you have been shortlisted, you will receive an invite to an assessment day or interview.

As a local employer and anchor institution we work closely with our community to recruit locally and we welcome applications from the widest variety of people to ensure our workforce are reflective of the local communities which we serve. We encourage all suitable candidates to apply including if you are Black, Asian or other ethnic minorities, live with a disability (visible or not) or are LGBT+. We have a number of active staff networks including Disability, LGBT+, Multicultural Inclusion and Women's staff networks to bring staff together and celebrate diversity across our whole workforce.

Please note, not all roles will meet the criteria for a skilled worker visa.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

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

• Job Description & Person Spec (PDF, 366.8KB)
• Working at LGT (PDF, 4.2MB)