Advanced Physiotherapist

Job summary

**This Post is Subject to Job Matching**

• Are you someone looking for a career in one of the UK’s most respected mental health and learning disability trusts?
• Would you like to be part of a dedicated team committed to making a difference to peoples lives to enjoy a better future?
• Would you like to play a role in developing a new physiotherapy service from the start?

An exciting opportunity has arisen to join the team at the new Regional Learning Disability and Autism Unit in Dawlish (The Brook).

The job offers a challenging yet rewarding environment with opportunities to consistently learn.

The Brook is a new regional service which provides high quality care and treatment for people who have autism or learning disabilities and complex mental health needs and is coming up to its first year of being open. You will work as part of a multidisciplinary team to support the assessment and treatment of adults with autism or a learning disability on the unit.

This is a new inpatient physiotherapy service for adults with autism or a learning disability so a rare and exciting opportunity to develop a service from the start. This role will include service development, ensuring physical activity is embedded within the unit alongside direct clinical work.

We are committed to the ongoing training and development of all our staff and offer a range of opportunities for career progression.

The building and environment will be state of the art and the service aims to become a centre of excellence

Main duties of the job

As an Advanced Physiotherapist in The Brook, the post holder will:

• Work as a clinical specialist in inpatient physiotherapy for adults with a learning disability and/or Autism, providing advance clinical support and with responsibility to ensure clinical excellence within Devon Partnership Trust.
• Act as a source of expertise on the assessment and management of inpatient physiotherapy for adults with a learning disability and/or Autism
• To deputise for the lead physiotherapist, taking on delegated responsibilities. Representing Physiotherapy at meetings and events locally, regionally and nationally.
• To take the lead on service development projects, audits and research in order to develop and improve physiotherapy provision within Devon Partnership Trust.
• To manage a complex caseload as required within The Brook as well as outreach into the community , undertaking all aspects of clinical duties as an autonomous practitioner including managing clinical risk for own caseload and professional and legal accountability for all aspects of own work.

• To Work closely with other multi-disciplinary team members, carers, other services and agencies to promote physical health and wellbeing, enable community inclusion and promote independence via assessment, care planning, individual interventions and training
• Oversee an exercise practitioner in delivering personalised exercise plans to maintain and improve physical health

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Diploma/degree in physiotherapy.
• State registration current HPC certificate
• Evidence of extensive Continuous Professional Development maintained in a portfolio. Training/experience in management of conditions relating to the specialty at post grad diploma or equivalent, including recent postgraduate courses relevant to the clinical field in, postural management, exercise prescription, physical health promotion, sensory integration or equivalent specialist training.
• Extensive postgraduate experience some of which were spent at a senior level within a paediatric, learning disability, autism or neurology setting.
• Good experience working for the NHS

Desirable

• Experience in developing workforce, services and other related management, leadership supervision skills

Experience

Essential

• Specialist experience in managing complex disability and clients with significant barriers to normal communication.

Desirable

• Experience and evidence of conducting audit and research.

Skills

Essential

• Group work skills
• Ability to work autonomously, seeking guidance as necessary
• Requirement for prolonged periods of intense concentration (to analyse and interpret complex information such as assessments up to 90 minutes duration taking in depth patient history and movement analysis, teaching clinical skills).
• Ability to build effective working relationships in stressful and demanding situations
• Use of total Communication
• Multimedia/IT skills
• Ability to reflect and critically appraise own and others performance
• Problem solving skills
• Workload management and ability to work autonomously and set own priorities
• Good general level of fitness
• Carry out assessments and treatments of adults with severe physical, cognitive, behavioural and sensory impairment and poor mobility with frequent moderate physical effort on a daily basis e.g. handling of unpredictable loads clients with spasm or who grab or jump up. This may include several short periods (30-60 minutes) of static postures kneeling, crouching, crawling, twisting, bending, and stretching, often working on the floor.
• The use of expert therapeutic handling skills, manual techniques and facilitation of movement. To provide expert therapeutic manual handling assessment, ergonomic education and advice on continuing management to patient and members of the multidisciplinary team/education staff/family/carers.
• To demonstrate highly developed dexterity, coordination and palpatory senses, for the advanced assessment and manual treatment of patients.
• To work in whatever setting required which occasionally may have unpleasant working conditions, e.g. bodily fluids, sputum, vomit. Need to follow Trust infection control policies

Knowledge

Essential

• Extensive working knowledge of a broad range of learning disability, autism, neurological conditions etc
• Knowledge of the relevant National Service Frameworks and clinical guidelines, and experience of implementing these recommendations in practice
• Training in staff appraisal
• Competent IT skills
• Ability to run internal and external courses or workshops for parents, carers, other health, and social care professionals
• Highly specialist manual handling training and ability to risk assess the physiotherapy programmes to be carried out by carers.
• Advanced training and experience in standardised assessment and outcome measures appropriate to learning disability and/or autism
• Advanced training and experience in specialist communication and behaviour management used within the field of learning disability

Closing Date: 2 August 2026