Address Work independently, without day-to-day supervision, to assess, diagnose, triage, and manage patients, taking responsibility for prioritising and managing a caseload of the PCN's registered patients. Receive patients who self-refer (where systems permit) or from a clinical professional within the PCN and refer to other health professionals within the PCN where required. Work as part of a multi-disciplinary team 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 services, and social prescribing.
Using 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. They will take responsibility for creating and justifying these decisions. Manage undifferentiated, undiagnosed conditions, identify red flags and underlying serious pathology, and take appropriate action. Manage complex interactions, including working with patients with psychosocial and mental health needs, referring onwards as required, and including social prescribing when appropriate.
Use complex decision-making to inform the diagnoses, investigation, and complete management of episodes of care within a broad scope of practice. Communicate effectively with patients and their carers where applicable, as well as complex and sensitive information regarding diagnoses, pathology, prognosis, and treatment choices supporting personalised care. Implement all aspects of practical clinical governance for own practice, including undertaking regular audits and evaluations, supervision, and training. Develop integrated and tailored care programmes in partnership with patients through effective, shared decision-making with a range of first-line management options (appropriate for the patient's activation level).
Assessing levels of patient's activation to support a patient's 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 activation levels. Agreeing with the patient's appropriate support for self-management through referral to rehabilitation services and wider social prescribing as appropriate. Design and implement plans that facilitate behavioural change, optimise patients' physical activity and mobility, support fulfilling personal goals and independence, and reduce the need for pharmacological interventions. 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, interpreting and acting on results and feedback to aid patients' diagnoses and management plans.
Be accountable for decisions and actions via Health and Care Professionals Council (HCPC) registration, supported by a professional peer networking/review culture and engagement in evidence-based practice. Liaising with secondary and community care services and secondary and community MSK services where required, using local social and community interventions to support managing patients within the PCN. Take professional responsibility as a first-Contact Physiotherapist, with high-level decision-making and clinical reasoning skills to assess, diagnose, and triage patients. Manage a complex caseload (including patients with long-term conditions, co-morbidities, and multi-factorial needs).
Ensure care is proactive, preventative in focus, and population-based, emphasising early intervention. Support patients to set their own goals and be confident in their approach to self-management. Demonstrate an understanding of the implications of national priorities for the team and/or service. Demonstrate an understanding of the process for effective resource utilisation.
Demonstrate an understanding of and conform to relevant standards of practice. Demonstrate an ability to identify and resolve risk management issues according to policy/protocol. Follow professional and organisational policies/procedures relating to performance management. Demonstate an understanding of the role of physiotherapy in governance and implement this appropriately within the workplace.
Demonstrate an understanding of and contribute to the workplace vision. Demonstrate an ability to improve quality within the limitations of service. Demonstrates ability to motivate self to achieve goals. Demonstates general physiotherapy skills and knowledge in core areas.
Can plan, manage, monitor, advise, and review general physiotherapy care programmes for patients in core areas, including identified disease states/long-term conditions. Demonstrate accountability for delivering professional expertise and direct service provision. Exercise a critical understanding of the personal scope of practice and identify when a patient needs referring. Integrate a broad range of interventions into practice, while promoting non-pharmacological solutions to patient care.
Through patient assessment, working in partnership with patients and their careers, make decisions about the best pathway of care, informed by the urgency and severity of patient need, patient acuity and dependency, and the most appropriate deployment of resources. Manage risk in unpredictable situation to uphold patient safety by referring to other primary care team members and specialist services as needed. Able to follow legal, ethical, professional, and organisational policies/proceduress and codes of conduct. Involve patients in decision-making and supporting adherence as per NICE guidelines.
Contribute to primary care activity, emphasising prevention and early intervention, including delivering public health advice (e.g. physical activity, weight management, and smoking cessation). Contribute to the use of healthcare technologies to optimise the integration of service delivery (across teams, sectors and settings) and patients' access and continuity of care. Having a working knowledge of all applicable software and hardware.
Understand and demonstrate the characteristics of a role model to members of the team and/or service. Deliver self-development through continuos professional development activity. Participate in the delivery of formal education programmes. Demonstrate an understanding of current educational policies relevant to working areas of practice and keep up to date with relevant clinical practice.
Demonstrate an ability to evaluation and review literature critically. Demonstrate an ability to identify where there is a gap in the evidence base to support practice. Demonstrate an ability to generate evidence suitable for presentation at a local level. Demonstrate an ability to apply the research evidence base into working practice.
