Job summary
- Main area
- Mental Health
- Grade
- NHS AfC: Band 6
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time - 37.5 hours per week
- Job ref
- 354-CO-21878
- Employer
- Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust
- Employer type
- NHS
- Site
- Hastings, Eastbourne/Bexhill
- Town
- Hastings, Eastbourne/Bexhill
- Salary
- £39,959 - £48,117 per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Closing
- 28/04/2026 23:59
- Interview date
- 07/05/2026
Employer heading
Specialist Mental Health Physiotherapist
NHS AfC: Band 6
Come and join us
We’re looking for people who share our values of compassion, accountability and optimism to help us provide high quality care for the patients, carers, families and communities we serve. We specialise in NHS mental health and learning disability services and we’re proud to make a difference every day.
At SPFT we put people first. We’ll do everything possible to help you feel respected, valued and included. You’ll have opportunities to learn, grow and gain new experiences to support your career, with access to lifelong learning and professional development.
We actively promote flexible working and understand how important work life balance is, especially in healthcare. Whether it’s part time hours, hybrid working or flexible start and finish times, we’ll explore what works for you and the role.
We recognise that AI is becoming part of daily life and you may choose to use it to help prepare your application. We welcome innovation but ask that anything you submit reflects your own abilities, experience and voice. AI can support how you describe your skills and experience, but it should never replace your own words as we want to get to know you.
We’re shaping a workplace where ideas are encouraged, technology supports you and everyone has a voice in how we improve. If that sounds like the kind of organisation you want to be part of, we’d love to hear from you.
Job overview
Mental Health Physiotherapy is a fast-growing and exciting specialism within Physiotherapy. This is a unique opportunity to join a team of mental health physiotherapists working across the Trusts adult mental health wards. This is a Specialist Physiotherapist (Band 6) role and would ideally suit an experienced practitioner with the desire to help deliver a high-quality service to people with mental health conditions.
You will be supported by a Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist (Band 7). The team will be led by a Professional Lead Physiotherapist (Band 8a) in Mental Health. You will not be expected to supervise any physiotherapists initially, but the plan is to grow the service to include Band 4 and Band 5 Physiotherapists, and at which point you would be responsible for supervision. There are currently opportunities to support student Physiotherapists.
The post holder will be based in East Sussex and provide input onto wards in Hastings and Eastbourne. Please note the Eastbourne site is due to move to Bexhill soon. The post holder will help at Mill View Hospital in Hove, as needed.
You will manage a caseload of adult patients with mental health conditions. You will provide input for adult, older adult and potentially dementia wards. Experience in mental health is advantageous but not essential.
Main duties of the job
You will manage a varied caseload across a range of care pathways including, mobility and falls, older adults/dementia care, pain management, posture care, musculoskeletal, orthopaedic and neurological conditions. Due to the specialist nature of the role and broad range of care pathways we offer, support and CPD to develop skills gaps.
As well as direct interventions and group classes, physiotherapy will be delivered by increasing the skills and competencies of other staff on wards.
You will have support from and work collaboratively within the physiotherapy professional group which spans the whole of Sussex and includes a large team of learning disability physiotherapists, as well as mental health physiotherapists.
You will be collaborating across services to deliver results. We work closely with colleagues in Social care, Primary Care and other specialist secondary services.
This is a great opportunity to use the skills you have developed across a broad range of care pathways.
Working for our organisation
Sussex Partnership provides mental health and learning disability care for all age groups across Sussex and for children and young people in Hampshire.
We encourage flexible working. We know that a positive work/ life balance brings about huge health-related benefits, which has a positive impact on the care we provide. Please speak to us about flexible working, for example, part time hours, flexible start/ finish times or anything else. If it works for you and works for the role, we'll do our best to make it happen.
We’d love you to join our Trust, rated ‘good’ overall and ‘outstanding’ for caring by the CQC. Our staff agree, in our recent staff survey 82% told us that they recognise that care for patients is our top priority.
Other key survey results:
· 70% highlighting flexible working as a key point for satisfaction at work
· 79% reporting feeling able to make suggestions to improve the work in their team
· 77% identifying opportunities to show initiative in their roles
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Please see the Job Description document which includes the posts main responsibilities attached for full details.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- Degree or graduate diploma in physiotherapy.
- Level 2 English qualification or equivalent
- Registered with the Health Care Professions Council
Knowledge/Experience
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of the Mental Capacity Act and issues of consent in mental health.
- Knowledge of the health inequalities and comorbidities in people with mental health conditions
- Extensive experience of working in a range of related areas e.g. older people and falls and mobility
- Broad experience of working with clients with a range of physical health problems e.g. neurology, musculoskeletal and orthopedics
- Knowledge of current good practice in the prevention of falls
- Knowledge of good practice in manual handling
- Experience of working as part of an MDT
- Experience of providing training
Employer certification / accreditation badges
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
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Lizzy McWilliams
- Job title
- Professional Lead Physiotherapist
- Email address
- [email protected]
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