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Job summary

Main area
Physiotherapy
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 3
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week (To include weekend working as per rota - approx 1 weekend a month)
Job ref
249-7307550
Employer
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
The Great Western Hospital
Town
Swindon
Salary
£24,625 - £25,674 per annum pro rata
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
31/07/2025 23:59

Employer heading

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust logo

Physiotherapy Assistant

NHS AfC: Band 3

Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a unique organisation, serving as the sole integrated provider in the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire system. Our scope extends beyond boundaries as we oversee adult community services in Swindon and provide acute care from the Great Western Hospital. 

Our 5,500 staff have 1.2m patient contacts a year, with 13,000 operations carried out in our Theatres, around 4,000 babies born, and our emergency attendances are now well over 100,000 per year. Those numbers only tell part of our story about what an exciting time it is to join Great Western Hospitals.

We are cultivating a culture that fosters our ambitions, prioritising equality, diversion, inclusion, wellbeing, and leadership. We aim to create an environment where every member of our team can truly thrive.

The Trust is a Disability Confident Employer; all applicants who have a disability can opt to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme, which means that, providing they meet the minimum essential criteria for the post, they will be offered an interview. We are also proudly accredited as a Veteran Aware organisation and have signed The Armed Forces Covenant.

If we receive a high volume of applications, we may close adverts prior to the published closing date. Therefore, we advise you to complete and submit your application as soon as possible.

Job overview

Band 3 - Physiotherapy Assistant

We are looking for an Assistant Physiotherapist to assist the Physiotherapy team across the acute medical and surgical wards of the Great Western Hospital.

You will ensure patients remain as independent as possible, and assist with timely discharges with the rest of the MDT.

Unfortunately this role is not eligible for sponsorship.

 

Main duties of the job

Your role will have clinical and non-clinical duties including:

  • Assisting the physiotherapists with early inpatient rehabilitation of acutely unwell patients, including patients with neurological conditions, frail elderly and post abdominal surgery patients.
  • Seeing patients independently (once trained), including reading, interpreting and applying sensitive and confidential information from medical and therapy notes to physiotherapy sessions.
  • Manual  handling in a safe and therapeutic manner.
  • Cleaning and maintaining ward stocks of physiotherapy equipment.
  • Attending board rounds; liaising with families regarding social histories; documenting sensitive and confidential information; and working with wider members of the ward teams.

 

Working for our organisation

Our STAR values – Service, Teamwork, Ambition and Respect – are a golden thread running through everything we do. These values serve as a guiding principle, driving us towards our vision of delivering great joined up services to our local community. Whether at home, in the community, or within the hospital, our goal is to empower individuals to lead independent and healthier lives.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

  • To provide high quality care, timely intervention and assist with early discharge planning.
  • To be responsible for assessing the medical fitness of patients before commencing treatment and to communicate immediately with an appropriate professional any change in patients’ status or other observations about patient behaviour, ability and response to therapeutic intervention.
  • To assist the Therapists with assessment, treatment and management of patients, including stair assessments, and patients that require more than one person to treat or mobilise.
  • To supervise and progress patient exercise regimes and treatment programmes including passive mobilisation techniques and stretches.
  • To prioritise the daily ward caseload in absence of senior staff member, highlight case complex/case simple patients and communicate this information to the therapist and larger team
  • To participate in ward multidisciplinary team meetings, case conferences and board rounds to facilitate discharge planning if required.

Please see the attached job description for full information 

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • GCSE (or equivalent) English and Maths.
  • IT skills
  • To have an up to date and relevant CPD file
Desirable criteria
  • Care Certificate or similar in Health and Social Care

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Knowledge of health and safety issues e.g. manual handling, infection control
  • Experience in discharge planning
  • Previous experience working with ward inpatients, both medical and surgical
  • To be able to work under instruction and independently
  • Understanding of the importance of confidentiality and consent
Desirable criteria
  • Basic knowledge of common medical and surgical conditions
  • Previous experience as a Physiotherapy assistant
  • Experience of supervising others
  • To have experience in obtaining ward handovers and prioritising patients

Employer certification / accreditation badges

NHS Pastoral Care Quality AwardVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleAge positiveDisability confident leaderInvestors in People: Goldhttps://www.gov.uk/government/publications/kickstart-scheme-employer-resources/kickstart-scheme-brand-guidelinesStonewall equality policy. Equality and justice for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.Step into healthArmed Forces Covenant

Applicant requirements

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

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Hannah Haywood/ Karen Jones
Job title
Physiotherapist
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
01793 605126
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