Job Summary
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.

Main Duties

• 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.

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.

Contract
Contract: Fixed term, 12 months
Working pattern: Part-time, Home or remote working

Home Working Requirements

• Live in the UK and carry out all work from a UK address for the duration of employment.
• Travel to MBPCC head office in Kirkby Lonsdale, LA6 6HQ at the start of employment to collect equipment and attend a face-to-face induction.
• Have a suitable, dedicated workspace with reliable internet access sufficient for video consultations and clinical systems.

Essential Experience

• Substantial post-registration MSK experience, including autonomous outpatient practice at Band 6 or above
• Assessing and managing undifferentiated MSK conditions, including recognising serious pathology
• Managing your own caseload and making autonomous clinical decisions
• Experience of vocational rehabilitation, workability assessment, graduated return-to-work planning or employment-focused musculoskeletal interventions.

Essential Qualifications

• Degree or equivalent in physiotherapy, with current, unrestricted HCPC registration
• Completed Stage 1 of the First Contact Practitioner Roadmap (or equivalent evidence of FCP competence)
• Evidence of continuing professional development

Employer Contact
HR Manager: Pam Compston, pamela.compston@nhs.net

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and requires a Disclosure and Barring Service check. Applicants must have current UK professional registration.