Job Description

Working Full or Part time hours



We are excited to advertise a therapy vacancy delivering Urgent Community Response (UCR) and Virtual Ward services for a Physiotherapist. This service is provided within the Hospital at Home Service, is an exciting place to work, with many training opportunities available. The successful candidate will have a specialist interest in frailty and hospital admission avoidance to enable the appropriate management of individuals in the community. This is a 7-day service and operates from 08:00-20:00, with a base at Custom House, in Ellesmere Port. The successful applicant will be required to work shifts across 7days, 8am to 8pm.



You will be a member of a holistic team which consists of GP's, Advanced Clinical Practitioners, Registered Nurses, Therapists, Therapy Assistants, Pharmacists and Clerical Support.



The service provides a 2-hour response to patients who are experiencing a health crisis, with the aim to support their treatment in their own home rather than requiring a hospital admission. The successful applicant will also provide therapy assessment and treatment for patients on the virtual wards, to enable optimisation of their physical function.



The successful candidate will be enthusiastic, flexible and innovative, and enjoy working as part of a dynamic and pro-active team.



We are committed to providing an excellent service to our patients.



Provide a 2-hour response for patients entering a health crisis and provide ongoing assessments and treatment plans for individuals on the virtual wards.



Work as an autonomous practitioner to perform a specialist therapeutic assessment of patients with diverse presentations. Use clinical reasoning to provide a diagnosis, deliver and adapt an individualised treatment programme within the patient's own home.



Work in collaboration with the Hospital at Home Team, Community Respiratory Team, Community Care Teams, Northwest Ambulance Service, Social Services, Millbrook and the patient's registered GP, to support the patient at home.



Work flexibly in response to service needs, ensuring allocation of an appropriate caseload for the Therapy Assistants.



The Countess of Chester Hospital NHS Foundation Trust provides services to West Cheshire and to Welsh patients covered by Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board. The Trust works collaboratively within the wider Cheshire and Merseyside Health and Care Partnership. Its services are provided from three locations:

The Countess of Chester Hospital:

providing 438 general and acute beds

Ellesmere Port Hospital:

providing 56 beds as a rehabilitation, intermediate and outpatient facility

Tarporley War Memorial Hospital:

a base for community services which serve the local rural population.



The Trust employs over 5916 staff (headcount) which includes temporary bank staff and provides acute emergency and elective services, primary care direct access services and obstetric services to a population of approximately 411,000. This includes 361,000 residents in Chester and West Cheshire which includes Ellesmere Port and Neston as well as the Deeside area of Flintshire which has a population of approximately 50,000.??



See for further details.



Recruitment selection processes are based on competence (see Person specification) and values.



Please note applicants will be required to pay for their DBS check. Costs will be deducted from their salary over the first three months of employment.



You are encouraged to enrol for the DBS Update Service. A small annual fee of 16 per year applies.



New entrants to the NHS will commence on the minimum of the scale stated above.



Applicants are advised to apply early as if a large number of applications are received for this post, we reserve the right to close the vacancy prior to the advertised date.



Good luck with your application.