Stroke Specialist Physiotherapist - Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust (2025)

Job summary

Are you a passionate and experienced Physiotherapist ready to lead innovation in stroke rehabilitation? Would you like to work in an internationally renowned cardiothoracic centre rated as Outstanding across all domains by the CQC? If so, we want to hear from you.

We're looking for a Stroke Specialist Physiotherapist to work 15 hours per week to deliver, coordinate and develop a highly specialist Physiotherapy service for patients with stroke as a primary or secondary diagnosis--across critical care, cardiology, cardio-thoracic surgery, transplant, and respiratory medicine.

This new role has a strong clinical focus with significant elements of leadership, education, service development, and research. You will co-lead the stroke service with Stroke Specialist Occupational Therapist and Speech and Language Therapist to provide true multi-professional leadership and unified service delivery.

The Therapies leadership team are keen to explore the implementation of hours to best suit the service and individual, e.g. two days, three short days, etc.

Main duties, tasks & skills required

Key responsibilities include:

*Promoting person-centred, evidence-based stroke care within a complex cardiothoracic setting

*Advanced neuro assessments and interventions

*Development of tailored discharge plans and neuro-restorative treatment programs

*Case management and co-ordination across multidisciplinary teams

*Education of students, MDT colleagues and support staff

*Service evaluation, audit, and quality improvement aligned with national stroke guidelines (2023)

What We're Looking for from aspiring candidates

Essential:

*HCPC-registered Physiotherapist

*Extensive post-qualification experience in neurology/stroke rehabilitation

*Skilled in managing complex cases across acute and critical care settings

*Strong leadership, communication and teaching capabilities

*Commitment to evidence-based practice and national guidelines

*Be able to manage a small team of rotational staff and or lead on service improvement projects.

Desirable:

*Postgraduate training or MSc in Stroke/Neurological Care

*Experience working within cardiothoracic or transplant services

*Participation in national networks or audits

About us

Royal Papworth Hospital NHS Foundation Trust is the UK's leading heart and lung hospital, delivering care to more than 50,000 patients a year in its new state-of-the-art hospital in Cambridge. We perform the most heart and/or lung transplants in the UK and carried out the UK's first successful heart transplant in 1979. It also offers emergency heart attack treatment, sleep centre care and is one of just five centres nationally for those in severe respiratory failure.

Based on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus the largest centre of medical research and health science in Europe the Trust is at the heart of treatments of the future. Royal Papworth became the first hospital trust in the country to be rated outstanding in all five areas assessed by the Care Quality Commission - a rating it still holds today. The Trust holds its values of compassion, excellence & collaboration at its core, and all colleagues joining the team are expected to uphold these in their day-to-day roles & interactions. Royal Papworth is proud of its diverse workforce and encourages people to embrace their individuality.

The Trust values difference and welcomes all applications irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy & maternity, race, religion & belief, sex and sexual orientation. Providing they meet the minimum post criteria, applicants with disabilities will be offered an interview.

For a street view tour: https://royalpapworth.nhs.uk/virtual-tour

Job description

On this page you will find a Role Profile which provides information about the hospital and full details about the role. We recommend that you review this and refer to it as you complete your application. Please include how you will meet the Trust Values Compassion, Excellence and Collaboration. If you would like more information about the role or working at Royal Papworth Hospital, please get in touch with the contact for this role.

Essential

BSc/ Pre- Reg MSc/ Grad. Dip. in Physiotherapy with HCPC registration

Post graduate education/ MSc level (or equivalent level) training relevant to stroke/ neurology care

HCPC registration

Active participation and engagement within specialist interest group membership

Essential

Clinical Pillar

Specialist Physiotherapy knowledge and advanced clinical reasoning in critical care, cardiothoracic surgery, cardiology and rehabilitation. Ability to support others to develop their knowledge

Evidence of significant experience in Physiotherapy management of patients with stroke/neurology and associated condition and treatment options

Experience in conducting comprehensive neurological assessments using standardised tools and protocols

Evidence of development of scope of practice with new skills and support others to also develop

Ability to work independently and prioritise own and others workload and delegate effectively to others

Leadership Pillar

Evidence of excellent communication, leadership and management skills across the multi-professional team

Evidence of excellent communication skills, including verbal, non-verbal and written, in difficult and challenging situations

Ability to problem solve and make complex clinical and non-clinical decisions and support the team to also do so

Education Pillar

Engagement in post-graduate education relevant to stroke and neurology care; including attending, presenting and organising relevant courses, study days and conferences

Experience of teaching and presentation to peers, junior staff and students

Experience in education and advocacy of Physiotherapy across the multi-professional team

Research Pillar

Experience in leading team and department audit / service improvement/ research projects

Utilisation of current evidence base to influence own and others clinical practice

Working knowledge of NHS and AHP priorities and initiatives

Essential

Please provide evidence of your commitment to uphold the Trust's values: Compassion, Excellence, Collaboration

Role model and support others in demonstrating professionalism, resilience and reflexivity

Ability to undertake manual handling tasks

Ability to work flexibly in an enhanced seven-day service including on-call, and late shifts

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.

UK Professional Registration

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

For help with your application, contact:

Allaina Eden

allaina.eden@nhs.net

07775554213