Job summary
- Main area
- 317 CR Team 8 527010
- Grade
- Band 6
- Contract
- Fixed term: 21 months (from date of appointment)
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week (part time applicants will be considered)
- Job ref
- 317-2025-09-024
- Employer
- The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Trustwide
- Town
- 317 Trustwide
- Salary
- £37,338 - £44,962 pro rata
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- Today at 23:59
- Interview date
- 02/05/2025
Employer heading

Senior Research Physiotherapist
Band 6
Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the busiest and largest NHS foundation trusts in the country, with around 15,000 staff and an annual budget of £1.6 billion.
We have a long history of providing high quality care, clinical excellence, and innovation in medical research regionally, nationally and internationally.
We’re in the top five providers of specialised health services in the country, supporting people with a range of rare and complex medical, surgical and neurological conditions, cancers and genetic orders.
Our staff oversee around 6,500 patient contacts each day, delivering high standards of healthcare.
We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and recognise the benefit in providing an inclusive environment. We value and respect the diversity of our employees and aim to recruit a workforce which reflects the communities we serve, and is equipped to deliver the best service to our patients. We welcome all applications irrespective of people’s race, disability, sex, sexual orientation, religion or belief, age, gender identity, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity and in particular those from under- represented groups.
Newcastle Hospitals are proud to be one of the exemplar organisations across the NHS on sustainability, with a long history of delivering Sustainable Healthcare in Newcastle (Shine) and the first healthcare organisation in the world to declare a climate emergency. Our strategy includes commitments to being Net Zero by 2030, for our direct carbon footprint, and Net Zero by 2040 for our footprint plus. Delivering these ambitions will not be possible without the help, support and action of every single member of our team.
Job overview
We are looking for an enthusiastic Physiotherapist to work in a Highly specialised service in Neuromuscular Disorders.
The successful candidate will be working in a team with a world-recognised reputation and required to deliver clinical care in combination with research trials for children and adults with Neuromuscular disorders. Based at the Centre for Life, the successful applicant will be expected to work in MDT clinics across the North of England. This is an exciting opportunity to gain new skills and develop your expertise in this speciality. An in-depth knowledge of Neuromuscular disease is not essential.
- Interview Date Friday 02 May 2025
- 37 Hours 30 Minutes/Week (part time applicants will be considered)
- You will be redirected to Trac to apply for the vacancy. Please expand the job details section and read all of the information before applying for the vacancy.
NO AGENCIES PLEASE
Main duties of the job
- To provide and receive complex patient information including diagnosis and prognosis, which may be sensitive and where there may be barriers to communication due to patients’ physical and psychological conditions. The research physiotherapist needs to be able to assess if a child may have cognitive impairment and not be able to co-operate.
- To communicate effectively with patients and their carers if necessary, to provide them with information about clinical trials using well developed skills of patient education to provide information in an understandable, comprehensive and unbiased manner prior to obtaining informed written consent for trials.
- To communicate with GPs, Neurologists and other specialists where necessary with regard to patient assessment details, adverse events or complications at any time during the trials.
- To communicate effectively and work collaboratively with the wider multi disciplinary team, including medical, nursing, and other therapy colleagues to provide feedback of clinical research that may facilitate delivery of a co-ordinated multi-disciplinary service to patients.
- To establish and develop key working relationships with all members of the Neuromuscular team.
- To be responsible for communicating the trial protocol to all staff involved and any changes to ensure the safe and effective running of the trials.
- To communicate effectively with the sponsor of specified research trials.
Working for our organisation
Our staff oversee around 6,500 patient contacts every day, delivering high standards of healthcare from the following sites:
• Freeman Hospital
• Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI)
• Health Innovation Neighbourhood (on the former Newcastle General Hospital and Centre for Ageing and Vitality site)
• Newcastle Dental Hospital
• Newcastle Fertility Centre
• Northern Centre for Cancer Care, North Cumbria
• Northern Genetics Service
• Cramlington Manor Walks
These include a range of flagship services which deliver cutting-edge care (supported by state-of-the-art diagnostic services in both radiology and pathology) and are a catalyst for innovation to support pioneering clinical practice in the NHS.
We also have offices at Regent Point in Gosforth and community sites.
Please see attached information on what Staff Benefits we have to offer at our Trust under ‘Documents to download’ or ‘Supporting documents’.
For further information on The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust please visit: Careers | Newcastle Hospitals | NHS | Newcastle Hospitals and Newcastle Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
- Under the direction of the consultant physiotherapist, to be responsible for the assessment of patients participating in national and international clinical trials. These include both children and adults with a variety of neuromuscular conditions including GNE myopathy, DMD, SMA and LGMDs as well as other conditions.
- Will be part of the multidisciplinary team participating in clinics for adults and children with neuromuscular diseases.
As a flexible working friendly organisation, we want to be sure that you can work in a way that is best for us and for our patients, and for you. Speak to us about how we might be able to accommodate a flexible working arrangement. If it works for the service, we will do our best to make it work for you.
Person specification
Qualifications & Education
Essential criteria
- • Degree or equivalent diploma in Physiotherapy
- • State Registered with Health Professions Council
- • Substantial post graduate / registration clinical/research experience
Knowledge & Experience
Essential criteria
- • Substantial post graduate / registration clinical/research experience
Desirable criteria
- • Experience of physiotherapy management and use of Orthotics in Neuromuscular diseases
- • Basic knowledge of statistics in medical research
- • Knowledge of research methodology
Skills & Abilities
Essential criteria
- • High level of planning and organisational skills
- • Excellent communicational and interpersonal skills
- • Ability to work autonomously
- • IT skills including experience of Microsoft office
Desirable criteria
- • Presentation skills
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
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Robert Muni Lofra
- Job title
- Consultant Physiotherapist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01912418865
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