Orthopaedic Physiotherapy Support Worker

Royal United Hospitals; Bath; On-site; GBP 21,000 - 27,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading healthcare provider in Bath is seeking an enthusiastic Physiotherapy Support Worker to join their Orthopaedic Therapies Team. The successful candidate will assist in patient assessments and rehabilitation across trauma and elective wards, playing a vital role in patient recovery. Ideal candidates will have relevant qualifications and experience in healthcare settings, showcasing excellent communication and organisational skills while working in a supportive and dynamic environment. A commitment to continuous learning and compassionate care is essential.

Benefits

Staff wellbeing programs

Support for professional development

Inclusive staff networks

Qualifications

• Evidence of training in relevant field.
• Experience of working with the public.
• Knowledge of hospital work, anatomy, and physiology.
• Experience working as a physiotherapy assistant or with orthopaedic patients.

Responsibilities

• Assist Orthopaedic Therapists in assessing and treating patients.
• Manage caseload and support patient rehabilitation.
• Work flexibly with Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists.
• Communicate patient progress to therapy colleagues.
• Support stock control and ordering mobility equipment.

Skills

Organisational skills

Good communication skills

Effective listening skills

Teamwork

Flexibility and reliability

Education

Diploma/Degree in relevant subject or NVQ/BTEC

Tools

IT skills

Job description

Job Overview

The Orthopaedic Therapies Team at the RUH are looking for an enthusiastic Physiotherapy Support Worker to join their friendly team. You will need to be creative and motivated, with a passion for delivering excellent rehabilitation to inpatients on both our elective and trauma wards. You will be supported to develop both clinically and professionally, and will be involved in service improvements.

We are a vibrant and friendly team of Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and therapy support workers with a shared vision of supporting people to do what is important to them and to continue participating in their activities of daily living.

This exciting post would provide you with the opportunity to work on a variety of wards to broaden your clinical experience and to be part of the RUH’s progressive and friendly integrated therapies department, where there is a culture of promoting learning and staff and service development.

To know more about the role, please contact:
Suzy Riggs - [e-mail]

Working for our organisation

At the RUH we’re proud to 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 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.

Main Duties of the Job

• Assist Orthopaedic Therapists in assessing and treating patients across the trauma and elective caseload, supporting timely discharges of patients home.
• Manage a delegated caseload and progress rehabilitation through exercises and functional activities.
• Work flexibly to support the whole Orthopaedic Therapy team, working closely with both Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists.
• Support and work with therapists’ caseload and update therapy colleagues regarding patient therapy progress and discharge.
• Support management of stock control and ordering of mobility equipment for use in the therapy department.

Person Specification

Qualifications & Training

• Essential criteria: Evidence of training to meet the competencies specified for this post; Diploma/Degree in relevant subject or relevant qualification, eg, NVQ, BTEC.

Knowledge and Experience

• Essential criteria:
  • Experience of working with the public
  • Knowledge of hospital work/anatomy/physiology
  • Experience working as a physiotherapy assistant / working with orthopaedic patients in a healthcare setting.
  • Presenting to groups
• Desirable criteria:
  • Ward or inpatient experience
  • Experience of taking exercise classes

Values

• Essential criteria:
  • Values and respects others, treats everyone as an individual, is non‑judgemental
  • Motivated to be genuinely kind and caring
  • Helps and co‑operates with colleagues
  • Pro‑active and takes responsibility
  • Willing to learn, open to change
  • Motivated to make a difference in whatever way they can
• Desirable criteria:
  • Takes pride in themselves, their appearance, their role and where they work.

Specific Skills

• Essential criteria:
  • Organisational skills
  • Good communication skills, confident and assertive
  • Effective listening skills
  • Able to work well with in a team
  • Able to present information, written and orally in a clear and logical manner
  • To have a flexible and reliable approach to work
  • To comply with Trust policies. The Trust requires regular statutory training. It is the responsibility of all staff to book in and attend these courses.
• Desirable criteria:
  • Competent IT skills

Physical Skills and Emotional Effort

• Essential criteria:
  • To be able to carry moderate to intense physical effort throughout the working day.
  • The ability to work in a stressful environment and with emotional or aggressive patients and carers
  • To be able to frequently care for critically/terminally/chronically ill patients and deal with distressing and difficult circumstance.

Requirements due to working environment

• Essential criteria:
  • To be able to maintain concentration and attention throughout the day where situations may sometimes be unpredictable.
  • To be exposed to unpleasant working conditions frequently, e.g. bodily fluids including sputum, vomit, urine and exposure to verbal and physical aggression.

Immigration and Visa Requirements

Please note - Due to recent changes in UK immigration and visa rules applicants who do not currently have the right to work in the UK may not be considered unless an alternative right to work solution can be provided. Candidates requiring sponsorship (or will need sponsorship at the end of a current visa e.g. those with graduate visa's) should review the eligibility criteria on the gov.uk website before applying: Prove your right to work to an employer: Overview - GOV.UK.

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

• Orthopaedic Physiotherapy Support Worker band 4 (PDF, 551.4KB)
• Join the RUH (PDF, 1.1MB)

Further details / informal visits contact

Name: Suzanne Riggs
Job title: Orthopaedic Physiotherapy Team Lead
Email address: [e-mail]
Telephone number: 01225824299

Detailed Job Description And Main Responsibilities

Please find attached a detailed person specification and job description for further information.