Highly Specialist Paediatric Physiotherapist & Therapy Team Lead

Job summary
The post holder will provide a highly specialist physiotherapy service for children/young people with severe and complex learning difficulties in Perseid special schools, in accordance with the ServiceLevel Agreement for Sutton Health and Care Alliance.

Main duties of the job
The post holder will contribute to the development of the special schools physiotherapy service for children/young people. They will plan and provide highly specialist physiotherapy assessment, advice and treatment to a defined caseload of children/young people with severe and complex needs. They will work in partnership with the children/young people, their families and other professions and agencies, including school staff and the wider health team, to reduce the impact of these difficulties on the children's/young people's social and emotional development, their learning and ability to participate in daily life. They will provide clinical supervision and support for the AHP Therapy Team on site and undertake appraisals and 121s.

About us
St George's, Epsom and St Helier University Hospitals and Health Group cares for a population of four million people in South West London and North East Surrey.
After years of collaboration, our two Trusts became a hospitals group in 2021. While remaining as two separate Trusts, being a hospitals group will help us to collaborate more closely on research, and the development, education, and training of our 17,000-strong workforce.
At gesh we are committed to supporting flexible working arrangements. Applicants are encouraged to discuss any flexibility they may need during the recruitment process.
Sutton Health and Care (SHC) is an innovative joint venture (hosted by Epsom and St. Helier University Hospitals NHS Trust) between local partner health and social care organisations, in which Sutton community services is fully integrated to support the delivery of a model of care for the people of Sutton.
SHCs vision is to deliver seamless excellent coordinated care that is person centred and of a high quality for people at risk of an unrequired hospital admission and for those requiring admission, to ensure they are supported promptly to get them home again.
We pride ourselves on having a highly dedicated team and offer a stimulating and dynamic working environment with a wide range of staff benefits and development opportunities. We are looking for employees who aspire to excellence, share our values and vision and can play a crucial role in our ongoing achievements.

Date posted 27 July 2026
Pay scheme Agenda for change
Band Band 7
Salary £55,524 to £62,652 a year pa pro rata inc. HCAS outer-Term Time
Contract Permanent
Working pattern Full-time
Reference number 343-8059197-AG-A
Job locations Perseid Special School, 152 Bordesley Road, Morden, SM4 5LT, United Kingdom

Job responsibilities

• Provide a highly specialist level of clinical skill in paediatric physiotherapy
• Be responsible for a clinical caseload of children/young people attending Perseid special schools as identified by the service specification, managing the defined caseload independently and prioritising own workload to ensure effective service provision
• Use clinical assessments, interview and observational skills to determine physiotherapy needs of children/young people and effectively set goals and plan intervention
• Communicate complex assessment findings and treatment plans with clients, families, school staff and the wider community staff, dealing sensitively with distressing or emotional circumstances and being realistic about clients' and families expectations
• Assess and treat individual children/young people with complex needs in school, their homes or clinical setting, working as part of a multidisciplinary team and liaising closely with education staff and parents/carers
• Provide written advice for Educational Health and Care Plans (EHCP) and contribute to Annual Reviews
• Monitor the effectiveness of intervention through goal setting, outcome measures and evaluation of practice and to communicate these to the relevant parties
• Contribute to the development of information that enables families, school and the wider community to understand and self-manage the client's condition whenever possible
• Recommend, provide and advise on equipment related to physiotherapy programmes. This may include, but is not limited to, postural management equipment
• Organise equipment demonstrations and wheelchair clinics within school as necessary
• Identify clients, complex seating needs, attending specialist seating clinics with the clients and their families as necessary
• Have a full understanding of the working of any equipment and ensure regular checks are completed to maintain safety
• Liaise and establish communication networks with the multidisciplinary team, external volunteers and statutory organisations, as appropriate, in planning of the clients' treatment.

Management Responsibilities/Professional Leadership

• Assist the Service Manager in planning and providing the commissioned physiotherapy input to children/young people attending Perseid schools, including attendance at appropriate meetings, development guidelines and protocols and reviewing service provision
• Keep the Service Manager up to date with service provision issues and report promptly any untoward incidences cooperating with an investigation undertaken
• Be responsible for reviewing efficacy of service delivery and facilitate setting up of new standards or amendment of existing ones, in close liaison with the Service Manager
• Actively contribute to formulating policies for specialist areas and proposals for general service changes
• Take the lead in developing the physiotherapy service in the special schools, facilitating development and implementation of effective client/care pathways and outcomes for children/young people in conjunction with the Service Manager
• Keep up t date with the Department and Trust standards and policies and facilitate dissemination of this knowledge to colleagues
• Develop good working relationships with multidisciplinary teams, outside agencies and voluntary agencies to ensure that professionalism and service delivery are maintained
• Provide support and supervision to other physiotherapy staff including assistants, where appropriate, monitoring the standard of treatment and giving training and instruction where required.

Education, Training and Personal Development

• Be responsible for training/education for families and school staff to ensure understanding and need for treatment advised
• Be aware of changing trends in treatment, promoting evidence based practice within own team and interpreting this into own specialist area of work in order to provide the highest standard of care for service users
• Participate in clinical audit, service development activities and research programmes as required
• Carry out continual professional development as identified through supervision and PDR, including in-service training and courses as agreed and work towards objectives
• Take responsibility for identifying suitable courses and training programmes to enhance own professional development, keeping abreast of new developments within relevant clinical fields
• Actively participate in delivering in-service training, tutorials, individual training sessions, external training and peer review. Demonstrate own willingness to learn
• Participate in the clinical education of students on placement
• Comply with SHC/Trust and physiotherapy service mandatory training requirements. Be actively involved in peer support and relevant specialist section support groups.

Clinical Governance

• Ensure that statistics and notes are kept in accordance with local and national policies
• Work in accordance with the standards and policies issued by the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, Health and Care Professions Council, the Trust and the physiotherapy department and to meet legal requirements
• Keep up to date with clinical developments and changing trends in practice, including National Service Frameworks and Special Interest Groups
• Be responsible for demonstrating safe use of equipment to other staff and outside agencies
• Be in involved in monitoring and evaluation of physiotherapy intervention as part of the multidisciplinary service and to liaise, as necessary, with other departments/disciplines and the wider physiotherapy service
• Undertake specific projects, as necessary, and support clinical governance and quality initiatives and assist in developing audit tools within integrated therapy.

Managing People and Resources

• Ensure that satisfactory systems are in place to maintain effective communication within your area and be responsible for ensuring that any Trust communication systems are utilised
• Observe and comply with the Trust's policies and procedures for health and safety ensuring the environment in which you and your staff work is safe, clean and tidy
• Comply with standard infection prevention precautions to prevent or minimise the spread of micro-organisms and communicable diseases to clients, staff and surrounding community
• Observe and continually promote equal opportunities in compliance with the Trust's policies on Equality and Diversity and Dignity at Work
• Ensure the benefits to clients are maximised through careful, economical and appropriate use of NHS resources including equipment, property, time, money etc.

Person Specification
Education and Qualifications
Essential

• Degree/Diploma in Physiotherapy
• Registration with the Health and Care Professions Council
• Registration with the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy
• Evidence of postgraduate training or attendance at short courses to develop specialist skills

Desirable

• Relevant post-registration specialist education
• Attendance at or membership of relevant specialist networks

Experience
Essential

• Specialist knowledge/experience in physiotherapy
• Extensive experience of working with children/young people with a range of physiotherapy needs in a range of settings
• Knowledge/experience in the use of evidence based assessment and treatment approaches and practices
• Evidence of efective multidisciplinary and multi-agency working
• Understanding of the principles of clinical governance
• Evidence of use of prioritisation, clinical risk assessments and outcome measures
• Experience in training others both informally (around the needs of a specific child/young person) and formally (presentations to groups of professionals)

Desirable

• Experience of mentoring, supervising, managing and/or supporting junior staff
• Experience of carrying out appraisals, setting objectives and working with staff to meet these
• Experience of measuring competency and dealing appropriate where there are concerns
• Experience of setting up new projecgts/initiatives
• Experience of delivering physiotherapy within a special school setting

Skills/Abilities/Knowledge
Essential

• Ability to perform manual handling tasks
• Knowledge of a range of assessment tools and therapeutic interventions appropriate for working with children/young people with physiotherapy needs
• Knowledge of care pathways to facilitate appropriate referrals
• Knowledge of a variety of treatment modalities e.g. orthotics, equipment for postural management, hydrotherapy etc
• Excellent written and oral presentation skills
• Excellent interpersonal communication skills including observation, listening and empathy
• Ability to prioritise workload effectively
• Good organisation and time management skills
• Good analytical, problem solving and reflection skills
• Good IT skills - MS Office, Email and Internet
• Knowledge of standards of record keeping and understanding of the principles of clinical governance

Desirable

• Knowledge of basic audit and quality tools
• Insight into issues arising from the local health economy

Personal Attributes
Essential

• Ability to work autonomously
• Ability to work as a team member and promote collaborative multidisciplinary and multi-agency approach
• Ability to be flexible to meet the needs of the role
• Ability to support and develop other team members
• Ability to take initiative
• Ability to delegate tasks
• Assertive, enthusiastic with a strong client focus
• Evidence of own self-development through appraisal, CPD and portfolio
• A ility to get to all sites required for the post

Desirable

• Membership of relevant specialist groups such as the Association of Chartered Paediatric Physiotherapists
• Professionally active in the specialist section
• Involvement in local/regional groups

Physical
Essential

• Demonstrate physical ability to carry out physiotherapy assessments and intervention
• Demonstrate highly developed dexterity, coordination and palpatory sensory skills for assessment and treatment of children/young people with a variety of conditions

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.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).