Job summary
A rare opportunity has arisen to join the OUH paediatric orthopaedic team in delivering specialist clinics, alongside the current Advanced Clinical Practitioner. Due to a research secondment, this post offers two days per week working in the Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH), Ponseti, MSK, and casting clinics at Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre.

The successful candidate will work within the NOC paediatric orthopaedic physiotherapy team, gaining acute outpatient orthopaedic skills.

The post would suit somebody with a solid background in paediatric orthopaedics and MSK, with preferably some prior experience of Ponseti and DDH, who is looking to extend their skills in a tertiary setting. Experience of clinical audit and service development within children's orthopaedics would be advantageous. The degree of clinical autonomy will depend on experience; we welcome further enquiries from suitable candidates.

Main duties of the job
Job statement

• To support the delivery of the Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH) and CTEV (Congenital Talipes Equinovarus) Ponseti service, alongside the Advanced Clinical Practitioner in Paediatric Orthopaedics.
• To deliver clinical care within the Children's Orthopaedic / MSK team at Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre as required. This might include CTEV, DDH, pre- and post- op casting and physiotherapy for a range of MSK and orthopaedic conditions, including normal variants and serial casting.
• To be committed to cross-site working, including Stoke Mandeville Hospital, if required.
• To undertake the supervision, and support of registrant and non-registrant Physiotherapy staff.
• To maintain an accurate record of all children under the care of the paediatric orthopaedic and MSK service, adhering to all legal and GDPR requirements for the safe storage of confidential information.
• To champion all aspects of evidence-based practice and quality assurance in the paediatric MSK and Orthopaedic service, and participate in research and audit as required.

About us
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research. The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.

Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community.

We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence.

Details
Closing date: 06 November 2026
Pay scheme: Agenda for change
Band: Band 7
Salary: £49,387 to £56,515 a year per annum pro rata
Contract: Fixed term, 8 months
Working pattern: Part-time
Reference number: 321-NOTSS-7761053-B7-A

Job responsibilities

• To maintain a structured referral and treatment pathway to ensure the efficient and effective running of the service.
• To be responsible for timely referrals to the OUH Consultant Paediatric Orthopaedic Surgeons for babies with CTEV who require tenotomies for correction of their deformity.
• To co-ordinate the resources required and those involved in minor surgical procedures, i.e. tenotomies, patients in an efficient and timely fashion within the regime timeframe.
• To be responsible for the assessment and referral of children with structural CTEV, or other structural abnormalities, to the DDH Screening service.
• To ensure parents of newly diagnosed babies with structural CTEV are offered antenatal support, so that information, management and treatment can be explained.
• To assist in the triage of referrals to the DDH Screening service in the absence of the Advanced Practitioner Paediatric Orthopaedics and to take responsibility for co-ordinating teams from physiotherapy, nursing and radiography when needed.
• To be professionally and legally responsible, and accountable for all aspects of own professional activities.
• To be responsible and accountable for the management and implementation of patient care programmes in the children's physiotherapy setting.
• To carry out assessment of patients as an autonomous practitioner, including those with highly complex presentations and to use clinical reasoning skills, advanced paediatric Orthopaedic and MSK expertise to determine appropriate care plans.
• To be responsible for patient care plans and to be consulted frequently for expert advice and guidance by junior and senior team members, and other health care professionals both within and outside the Trusts.
• To continually re-assess patients to progress treatments effectively and advise patients, carers, medical, and other colleagues as required.
• To assess patients capacity to understand and gain valid, informed consent for treatment. To work within a legal framework with patients who lack the capacity to consent or refuse treatment.
• To always manage clinical risk within own caseload and assist in ensuring clinical risk is effectively managed across the paediatric MSK and Orthopaedic service.
• To attend meetings, seminars, and case conferences as appropriate, and liaise with, and advise other disciplines, as appropriate, to achieve comprehensive, effective, and confidential patient care.
• To be responsible for maintenance of accurate written records using POMR system, to include comprehensive progress and discharge reports to referrers, and assist with ensuring that senior, junior and student physiotherapists are maintaining the professional standards.
• To demonstrate highly developed dexterity, co-ordination and palpatory sensory skills for assessment and manual treatment of patients.
• To be highly competent in assessing the full needs of a wide range of children's orthopaedic conditions based on advanced theoretical knowledge of anatomy, physiology, and pathology, often in situations where conflicting evidence may be present.
• To use advanced theoretical and practical knowledge to refer to other health disciplines as appropriate, for further treatment or specialist consultant opinions, ensuring appropriate referral systems are used by departmental staff.
• To demonstrate the ability to communicate complex and sensitive information to patients, carers and other staff, where there may be barriers to communication e.g., non-English speaking patients or those with communication impairment, and ensure all members of the team do likewise.
• To impart complex information to small groups of people, for example in class and training sessions, using a variety of methods of communication.
• To clearly convey advanced knowledge of techniques, biomechanics, anatomy and physiology to patients and staff.
• To sensitively deal with distressing or emotional circumstances regarding patient care e.g., imparting news of poor prognoses, such as long-term disability or chronic pain.
• To be able to diffuse potentially hostile and antagonistic situations with staff, patients, and relatives, using highly developed negotiation and interpersonal skills.
• To establish and maintain positive interpersonal relationships with other team members characterised by open communication, trust, and respect.

Communication

• To establish and maintain a good working relationship with the multidisciplinary team.
• To ensure effective communication and reporting always takes place.
• To assist in acting as a resource centre for other Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire physiotherapists involved in the management of orthopaedic paediatric patients.

Person specification
Essential

• Physiotherapy degree or equivalent with HCPC registration already in place
• Prior experience in children's orthopaedics
• Experience of working in Ponseti Clinic
• Excellent communication skills with patients / parents / staff
• IT skills and experience of electronic record keeping

Desirable

• Certificate of Basic and Advanced Ponseti training
• Graf certified / solid DDH experience
• Ability to travel between sites
• Evidence of service development / audit experience

Disclosure and Barring Service check
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Certificate of sponsorship
Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website.

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants.

UK registration
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website.

Employer details
Employer name: Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Address: Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre, Windmill Road, Oxford, OX3 7HE, United Kingdom
Employer's website: https://www.ouh.nhs.uk/

Employer contact details
For questions about the job, contact: Children's MSK Therapies Team Lead Christina Reay, christina.reay@ouh.nhs.uk, 01865738087

Apply through our website.