First Contact Physiotherapist

Posting date:	24 January 2026
Salary:	Not specified
Additional salary information:	Negotiable
Hours:	Full time
Closing date:	07 February 2026
Location:	Hemel Hempstead, HP2 4HY
Company:	NHS Jobs
Job type:	Permanent
Job reference:	A0591-26-0005

Summary

Be the first point of clinical contact for patients presenting with MSK conditions or symptoms, providing the patient with the primary assessment, diagnosis and management options for their condition Use advanced clinical practice skills and clinical reasoning to provide comprehensive diagnostic and treatment support to patients who present with complex musculoskeletal conditions and/or multiple pathologies and/or mental health and/or pain management needs Be the link between primary, community and acute services, when the patient is managed via primary care ensuring an integrated care pathway for individual patients that meets their needs. This will include provision of triage to other services and/or directly providing management and advice Lead on and develop effective communication between primary care services/GP practices and other relevant care providers Initiate, develop, and maintain relationships with MDTs, orthopaedic and physiotherapy consultant teams in the community and acute settings. Where appropriate, develop relationships with wider health and social care agencies, for example mental health teams, local authorities, third sector providers and patient groups Provide leadership and support on MSK clinical and service development, alongside learning opportunities for the whole multi-disciplinary team (MDT) within primary care Provide highly specialist advice on issues ranging from the provision of expert opinion on individual patient treatment options to be a primary contributor to MSK services and related pathway development. Encourage collaborative working across the health economy and be a key contributor to the primary care networks providing leadership and support on MSK clinical and service development across the network Work independently, without day-to-day supervision, to assess, diagnose, triage, and manage patients, taking responsibility for prioritising and managing a caseload of the practices registered patients Work as part of an MDT in a patient facing role, using their expert knowledge of movement and function issues, to create stronger links for wider services through clinical leadership, teaching and evaluation Develop integrated and tailored care programmes in partnership with patients, providing a range of first line treatment options including self-management, referral to rehabilitation focussed services and social prescribing Make use of their full scope of practice, developing skills relating to independent prescribing, injection therapy and investigation to make professional judgements and decisions in unpredictable situations, including when provided with incomplete or contradictory information. Take responsibility for making and justifying these decisions Manage complex interactions, including working with patients with psychosocial and mental health needs, referring onwards as required and including social prescribing when appropriate Implement all aspects of effective clinical governance for own practice, including undertaking regular audit and evaluation, supervision and training Develop integrated and tailored care programmes in partnership with patients through: a. effective shared decision-making with a range of first line management options (appropriate for a patients level of activation) b. assessing levels of Patient Activation to support a patients own level of knowledge, skills and confidence to self-manage their conditions, ensuring they can evaluate and improve the effectiveness of self-management interventions,particularly for those at low levels of activation c. agreeing with patients appropriate support forself-management through referral to rehabilitation focussed services and wider social prescribing as appropriate Clinical Request and progress investigations (such as x-rays and blood tests) and referrals to facilitate the diagnosis and choice of treatment regime including, considering the limitations of these investigations, interpret and act on results and feedback to aid patients diagnoses and management plans and Carry own caseload as an autonomous practitioner, providing direct clinical/ physiotherapeutic care for patients with a range of complex musculoskeletal conditions and who may have significant other primary or secondary conditions/multi-pathologies Be able to decide when appropriate to use advanced clinical practice skills that may include: a. joint/soft tissue injection therapy, including administration of prescription only medication [POM] to aid treatment. b. joint aspirations c. non-medical prescribing Be able to clinically justify referral onto appropriate MSK pathways within the community or wider healthcare services. Including referral to the appropriate stage of the pathway and the use of social prescribing For patients that remain the responsibility of primary care services, take the lead for the management of the patients journey on their care pathway, acting as the link for the patient between primary care and other services/ professionals Recognise RED flags, serious pathology and potential underlying non-MSK related disease, that may present as MSK symptoms and to refer appropriately. When needed accelerate the patients referral to other health professionals/services Provide expert advice and act as source of expertise in the management of musculoskeletal conditions and provide a specialist advisory service to patients, specialist physiotherapists other specialist healthcare professionals and members of the primary care team, including advising GPs on management of MSK conditions Provide clear advice, instruction and teaching on aspects of management of a condition to patients, relatives, carers and other health professionals Continually review and develop specialist clinical and diagnostic skills in response to service need Be accountable for own decisions and actions via HCPC registration and professional standards Service/Professional Leadership/Consultancy Integrate the FCP role into the wider primary care team, proactively working with the primary care team to build robust relationships and integrate working practices. Attending primary care strategic and practice level meetings to represent FCP/physiotherapy when appropriate. Work collaboratively with the primary care team and also in partnership with business managers, professional managers and lead clinicians of secondary, community and other care providers to improve service delivery and meet the identified needs of the local patient population Work with the primary care team, public health professionals and other agencies to introduce a strand of service provision that highlights preventative strategies for local populations, patient groups and individuals Participate and lead in ensuring a professional culture of peer networking and support underpinned by active engagement in peer review and embracing evidence-based practice Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of wider health, healthcare and social care agencies related to MSK conditions and physiotherapy Review and develop organisational and service policies that support the maintenance of good clinical governance, manage risk and ensure patient safety is paramount Take responsibility for the introduction, monitoring and review of service standards for MSK primary care services, including clinical, professional and service standards Take forward operational change within primary care MSK services to deliver improvements in service standards. When introducing change, be aware of and responsible for identifying and managing alternative/contradictory views expressed by services and specialist clinicians. For example, when negotiating and explaining proposals to change to service design, organisation and skill mix in primary care and related MSK services Participate in or lead investigation into complaints and clinical errors/incidents when appropriate. Education/Workforce Development Provide and receive clinical supervision and be an active provider of mentoring and coaching of specialist clinicians from a range of disciplines Provide and receive clinical supervision and be an active provider of mentoring and coaching of specialist clinicians from a range of disciplines Maintain a professional portfolio of knowledge and skills, at advanced clinical practice level, through participation in internal and external development opportunities Research and Evaluation Promote the integration of evidence-based practice and national guidelines into own and local FCP MSK service practice. Use expert knowledge of evidence-based guidelines and national frameworks to influence the development of FCP services across the practice Lead or participate in research and MDT research projects as appropriate.This may include participation in cross organisational research and audit programmes Present and disseminate research and clinical audit findings across the practice and wider service providers as required. Maintain and up-date audit and data derived from a range of data sets in order provide statistical reports on outcome measures and achievement of KPIs for a range of audiences Use audit and research to develop and improve service guidelines, care protocols, delivery of triage services and referral pathways Communication/Building Networks Take the lead in communicating and influencing across the practice the benefits of the FCP role in primary care Communicate effectively and appropriately with patients and carers, including: a. explaining the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment choices available to manage multi-pathology and complex conditions b. communicating limitations on treatment outcomes and managing expectations of patients with chronic or life limiting conditions