Skip to main content

This site is independent of the NHS and the Department of Health.

Please wait, loading

Job summary

Main area
Physiotherapy
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 7
Contract
Permanent
Hours
Full time - 37.5 hours per week
Job ref
153-SP05789
Employer
University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Poole Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Town
Poole
Salary
£49,387 - £56,515 per annum
Salary period
Yearly
Closing
04/05/2026 23:59
Interview date
21/05/2026

Employer heading

University Hospitals Dorset NHS Foundation Trust logo

MSK Clinical Specialist - Lower Limb

NHS AfC: Band 7

As University Hospitals Dorset we are a three site acute trust with ‘university hospital’ status through our partnership with Bournemouth University, working with an annual budget of £730m.

We offer highly regarded health services, employing some 10,000 staff. Our ambitious £500m transformation programme is well on the way to delivering state-of-the-art facilities over the next two years to meet the current and future healthcare needs of the populations we serve.

In an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty with over seven miles of sandy beaches you’ll find inspirational opportunities to achieve your perfect work/life balance. With the New Forest and the Purbecks on our doorstep, we’re also less than three hours from London by road or train. The thriving towns of Poole, Bournemouth and Christchurch give way to idyllic villages and unspoilt landscapes just minutes from our hospitals.

We believe that having a diverse workforce, and allowing people to be themselves, is essential in ensuring we offer an inclusive, welcoming and productive place to work.

We especially welcome applications from minority groups in the community who may be underrepresented in our workforce. 

At UHD our active staff network groups are the Women's Network, Black Asian Minority Ethnic Group (BAME), Pride Network, European (EU), Pro Ability Staff Network, and the Armed Forces Support Group.

As a Trust we are proudly signed up to the Disability Confident and Armed Forces Covenant guaranteed interview schemes.

We are aware that some candidates may choose to use AI tools to support the preparation of their application. While this is not discouraged, we kindly remind applicants that submissions should remain an honest and accurate representation of your own experience and suitability. Personal integrity is an important part of the recruitment process.

Job overview

Are you an experienced musculoskeletal physiotherapist with a passion for lower limb rehabilitation and exercise-based recovery? We are seeking an enthusiastic and highly skilled Band 7 Physiotherapist to join our dynamic service, delivering specialist lower limb rehabilitation within a well-equipped gym-based clinical environment.

This is an exciting opportunity for an autonomous practitioner with advanced clinical reasoning skills and a strong interest in strength and conditioning principles, functional rehabilitation, and return-to-sport or return-to-work pathways.

This role requires  HCPC Registration. 

Interview Date: 21st May 2026

Main duties of the job

You will manage a complex caseload of patients presenting with acute, chronic, post-operative and sport-related lower limb conditions. Working within a gym setting, you will design and deliver progressive, evidence-based rehabilitation programmes, including individual and group sessions focused on strength development, neuromuscular control, load management, and performance optimisation.

The role requires confidence in utilising gym equipment safely and effectively, adapting programmes to meet individual goals while ensuring robust clinical risk management.

As a senior clinician, you will provide clinical leadership and supervision to junior staff, therapy assistants and students. You will play a key role in supporting service development, quality improvement initiatives, audit activity and pathway optimisation within lower limb rehabilitation services.

Working for our organisation

UHD are investing, developing and transforming Trust services in line with the New Hospital Programme. As part of this, some services may move site this year or next, either temporarily or permanently. Recruiting Managers will be happy to answer any service-specific questions at interview. 

If a role or service relocates as part of a planned move, excess mileage will not be reimbursed. Travel from home to the new work base will be classed as a normal commute. Any other changes will be managed under Trust or national terms and conditions. 

UHD has active networks including Women’s, BAME, Pride, EU, Pro Ability, and Armed Forces. We support Disability Confident and Armed Forces Covenant interview schemes. 

AI tools may be used, but applications must honestly reflect your own skills and experience. Integrity is key to our recruitment process. 

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

We are looking for a motivated and forward-thinking physiotherapist who:

  • Is registered with the HCPC

  • Has significant post-registration experience in musculoskeletal physiotherapy

  • Demonstrates advanced knowledge of lower limb rehabilitation and exercise prescription

  • Has experience managing complex caseloads autonomously

  • Shows strong leadership, communication and organisational skills

  • Is committed to service improvement and continuous professional development

This post offers the opportunity to work in an innovative, active rehabilitation environment, shaping high-quality lower limb services and supporting patients to achieve meaningful functional outcomes.

If you are ready to take the next step in your physiotherapy career and lead within a progressive gym-based NHS setting, we would love to hear from you.

 
 

Person specification

Qualifications

Essential criteria
  • Bsc Physiotherapy
  • HCPC Registration
Desirable criteria
  • Level 7 Post registration/post-graduate qualification

Experience

Essential criteria
  • Experience of service and practice development

Skills

Essential criteria
  • Demonstrable enhanced clinical skills within the musculoskeletal context.
  • Clinical reasoning, problem-solving and decision-making skills at an enhanced level.
  • To be competent to deal calmly and professionally with patients, relatives and work colleagues in a confidential and sensitive manner.
  • Dexterity, co-ordination for driving, keyboard skills; use of specialist equipment and tools.
Desirable criteria
  • Specialist experience in the ordering and interpretation of lower limb imaging.

Knowledge

Essential criteria
  • Able to demonstrate highly specialised theoretical and practical, enhanced knowledge in the MSK specialty and common presentations.
  • Understanding of the principles of effective budgetary management.
  • Understanding of the theory and application of Clinical Governance.

Other

Essential criteria
  • Excellent computer literacy skills
  • Manual dexterity, precision and accuracy in physical skills
  • Physical fitness as required to undertake the job
  • Fluent English as required to undertake the job
  • Flexibility in working locations as service requires
  • Proven skills in delegation, and being delegated to.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Disability Confident - two yearsUHD ValuesApprenticeships logoArmed Forces Covenant Gold AwardStonewall equality policy. Equality and justice for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.Step into health

Applicant requirements

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

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

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Jack Le Poidevin
Job title
MSK Physiotherapy Operational Lead
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
0300 019 2121
Apply online nowAlert me to similar vacancies