Specialist Rheumatology Physiotherapist

Job Overview

Our RUH Therapies department is a modern, forward-thinking and diverse team, with a warm, supportive culture.

We celebrate the individuality of our team members, supporting our therapists to grow and thrive in their profession.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for enthusiastic and driven Physiotherapists to join our department on a fixed term basis as a Band 6 Specialist Physiotherapist in Rheumatology.

The successful applicant will need excellent communications skills and will need to demonstrate suitable knowledge and experience in Rheumatology, Musculoskeletal and/or Pain Management specialties, enabling them to work autonomously at a high level, supporting the delivery of our specialist service.

The department has a positive approach to continuing professional development and there is an active in-service training and supervision programme, to help successful candidates prepare for, and excel within their role as clinicians and leaders.

This role includes some non-clinical responsibilities and opportunities, including the support and teaching of band 5s, students, and assistants, providing opportunity to develop and demonstrate your leadership skills, as well as opportunities to lead projects within our department.

Main duties of the job

Our Rheumatology Therapies Team is based in the dedicated Therapies Brownsword building, situated adjacent to the RNHRD building where Rheumatology clinics are based .

We provide care for patients referred to us from 4 local ICB areas - BSW, BNSSG, Somerset and Gloucestershire. We are a multi-disciplinary team of Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and Therapy Support Workers who all work together to provide support for patients living with Rheumatological diseases. Sessions are provided both in person and virtually, in 1 to 1 and group settings, as appropriate.

As part of our service, we are proud to provide the award winning residential Bath Axial Spondyloarthritis Rehabilitation Programme and the Bath (outpatient) Fibromyalgia Self-Management Programme. Our service runs primarily Monday to Friday, however post-holders will be expected to contribute to our extended service for outpatient appointments. Currently this is one Saturday clinic per month for full-time staff members. As part of our commitment to you and your career development, we provide ongoing training opportunities both in-house and externally.

This post-holder will gym work in outpatients, as well as gym, hydrotherapy and group education sessions. Please do get in touch with us for more details ([email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]).

Working for our organisation

At the RUH we put people at the heart of what we do, working together as one team to make a difference for our patients, each other, and our community. No matter what your role is, we value everyone’s contribution in supporting the exceptional, person-centred care we pride ourselves on.

We are proud to be in the top 20 best hospitals to work for in the country.

We are committed to creating a compassionate and inclusive environment. This can be seen in our growing community of staff networks – celebrating successes and creating opportunities to listen and learn. We value our differences, champion kindness and civility, and truly believe that diversity makes us stronger.

A culture of learning, developing and innovating is the thread that runs throughout our whole organisation. We want to support you to thrive, taking your career to its full potential.

We value staff wellbeing, with a well-established programme of support. We believe in a holistic approach spanning all aspects of living a healthy life, including physical, emotional, spiritual and financial wellbeing. We’ve even got a pool!

We are committed to supporting you and hope you want to join our team. In the meantime, find out more about living and working the beautiful historic city of Bath, learn about our extensive package of staff benefits, and read about how we’re providing healthcare fit for the future with the landmark Dyson Cancer Centre and our passion for research.

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

Please find attached to the vacancy a detailed person specification and job description for further information about this role.

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria

• Diploma / BSc (Hons) Physiotherapy Degree / MSc (Pre-registration) Rehabilitation Science/Physiotherapy qualification.
• HCPC Registration
  
  

Desirable criteria

• MSc or post-graduate modules/ training relevant to rheumatology/ long term condition management.
• Member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP).
• Member of British Society for Rheumatology (BSR).
• Relevant experience of working in the NHS.
  
  

Knowledge and Experience

Essential criteria

• Postgraduate training relevant to the clinical fields of Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal outpatients.
• Wide range of experience as Band 5 in rotational post or static posts.
• Experience of delivering patient education and treatment in a group setting.
• Experience of working as part of a physiotherapy team and / or multidisciplinary team.
• Experience of teaching, supervising and appraising students, Band 5 Physio’s and Therapy Assistants.
• Experience of running group exercise sessions
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Experience of the management of Persistent Pain conditions (FMS, HSD).
• Experience of using Motivational interviewing and patient activation strategies.
• Hydrotherapy experience.
  
  

Other Skills

Essential criteria

• IT Literacy and word processing skills
• Awareness of communication skills and emotional resilience in working with people with persistent pain
  
  

Desirable criteria

• Involvement in audit, research and understanding quality issues.
• Understanding mental health screening and management
  
  

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-Rheumatology Physiotherapist (PDF, 392.4KB)
• Join the RUH (PDF, 1.1MB)
  
  

Further details / informal visits contact

Name Jade Skeates Job title Team Lead Physiotherapist Email address [email protected]