Job summary
An exciting opportunity has arisen for an enthusiastic and experienced Physiotherapist to join our well-established Cardiorespiratory Physiotherapy Team as the Highly Specialised Physiotherapist and Team Lead for Specialist Medicine.

The Cardiorespiratory service comprises Cardiothoracic, General ICU and Surgery, and Specialist Medicine teams. As Specialist Medicine Team Lead, you will provide clinical leadership and operational management for physiotherapy services across Respiratory Medicine, Renal Medicine and respiratory pathways within the Emergency Department, whilst maintaining a specialist clinical caseload.

You will deliver advanced assessment, treatment and rehabilitation for patients with complex respiratory and renal conditions, including those requiring non-invasive ventilation (NIV), CPAP, high-flow oxygen therapy and tracheostomy management. Working as part of a highly skilled multidisciplinary team, you will provide holistic, patient-centred care, including support for patients with frailty and those approaching end of life.

The role offers opportunities to lead service development, education, quality improvement and workforce development, supporting rotational staff, students and the wider MDT. This post would suit an experienced Band 6 or Band 7 physiotherapist with a passion for respiratory care, leadership and service innovation who is looking to develop their career within a supportive and expert specialist team

Main duties of the job
This is an exciting opportunity to join the Specialist Medicine Physiotherapy team, providing expert physiotherapy assessment, treatment and rehabilitation to patients within Respiratory Medicine, Renal Medicine and Emergency Department respiratory pathways. The post holder will work closely with the Specialist Medicine multidisciplinary team to develop and deliver high-quality, evidence-based services in line with national guidance and best practice.

The successful candidate will manage a specialist caseload of patients with complex respiratory conditions, including respiratory failure, and will undertake advanced assessment, clinical reasoning and treatment planning as an autonomous practitioner. This includes supporting patients requiring non-invasive ventilation, CPAP, high-flow oxygen therapy and complex respiratory rehabilitation.

As a Band 7 Team Lead, you will provide clinical leadership and support to Band 5 and Band 6 physiotherapists, therapy technicians, assistants and students. You will contribute to staff development, competency assessment, supervision and education across the multidisciplinary team.

The role offers opportunities to lead service improvement, quality improvement, audit and evidence-based practice initiatives, helping to shape and develop respiratory physiotherapy services across the organisation. There will also be opportunities to support operational management and deputise for senior physiotherapy leads when required

About us
We are a large but close-knit team that supports one another to deliver the highest standard of care for our patients. We value compassion, innovation, motivation and teamwork, and actively encourage professional development, collaborative working and service improvement.

St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is the regional specialist care provider for south west London, Surrey and beyond. The trust provides a high quality, comprehensive range of health services from leading edge tertiary and trauma care to community services.

With national and regional referrals added to our local 3.5m catchment, we serve a population of around 5m.

Co-located with St George's, University of London and with both organisations now in a formal strategic alliance with King's Health Partners, the trust delivers with its partners high quality research and education both of which contribute to the healthcare provision of tomorrow.

Acute and tertiary health services are delivered from over 1,000 beds across two sites, by around 8,000 staff.

St George's Hospital is a major acute hospital that offers very specialist care for complex injuries and illnesses, including trauma, neurology, cardiac care, renal transplantation, cancer care and stroke.

Job responsibilities
Please see the attached supporting job description and person specification document, which contains more information about the role and requirements. Please ensure your application refers to the job description and person specification

Qualifications and Training
Essential

• Diploma/Degree in Physiotherapy
• HPC registration
• Working at Masters level as demonstrated by on-going CPD i.e. Masters level accreditation, lecturing on Masters level courses and research / publications
• Evidence of post registration training in respiratory physiotherapy and management

Desirable

• Recognised post graduate qualification e.g. MSc Respiratory Physiology, ACP
• Membership of a special interest group
• Member of relevant appropriate multi professional interest group e.g. BTS
• Leadership Training
• Post-graduate management training

Experience
Essential

• Minimum 4 years post registration experience
• Minimum 2 years' experience in specialist respiratory care including management of acute and acute on chronic type 2 respiratory failure and the management of critically unwell patients
• Broad knowledge & experience of a wide range of approaches to the management of patients across a number of respiratory specialities including renal, demonstrated by advanced clinical reasoning
• Significant experience of student supervision and advanced clinical education
• Previous experience of formal presentations to multi professional groups
• Clear understanding of other disciplines' roles and expectations
• Understanding of all aspects of Clinical Governance including previous experience of quality issues, audit and risk management
• Experience of holistic line management
• Experience leading or contributing to service development, quality improvement or transformation projects.
• Experience undertaking audit, quality improvement or service evaluation projects and implementing change in practice.

Desirable

• Previous experience as a Highly specialist physiotherapist (or equivalent ) in a teaching hospital environment
• Involved in developing research links with other academic institutions
• Involved in teaching NIV to the multi disciplinary team as well as evaluating and auditing the application of this modality
• Experience of carrying out tracheostomy changes and de-cannulation

Skills
Essential

• Understand the legal responsibilities of the profession.
• Able to present information, written and orally, in a clear and logical manner
• Ability to organise, prioritise and delegate
• Willingness to lead staff training
• Ability to work with multi-interdisciplinary team and set team goals
• Awareness of skill mix and service needs
• Ability to comprehend and work within the Trust's policies of Data Protection, Equal Opportunities and Health & Safety to meet the differing needs of the patients.
• Ability to keep legible and accurate notes in English in the POMR system
• Remains updated on professional practice and new research
• Show evidence of being self-motivated
• Able to carry out moderate to intense physical effort throughout the working day and carry out concurrent activities.
• Ability to cope with working in a stressful and unpredictable environment.
• Research skills
• Ability to lead and motivate others

Desirable

• High level IT skills
• High level presentation skills
• Ability to run courses - internal/external
• Committee membership e.g. Heath & Safety
• Coaching and / or mentorship qualification

Knowledge
Essential

• High level of knowledge in the application of all respiratory modalities including non-invasive respiratory support
• High level of knowledge of tracheostomy management including development of laryngeal weaning strategies
• Evidence of continued professional development, reviewing current practise and research developments within respiratory care with application to clinical practise
• Demonstrates understanding of research methodology
• Demonstrated understanding of the role of physiotherapy within the evolving health environment

Other
Essential

• Physically fit and able to comply with Trust Manual Handling Guidelines
• Able to perform emergency duties
• Professional demeanour
• Able to alter their working patterns to include working extended hours (between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday), unsociable hours (6pm to 8am Monday to Sunday) and weekend working (This may be via additional on-call hours, shift pattern or another system.

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.
Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).