Macmillan Cancer Prehabilitation and Rehabilitation PhysiotherapistNHS

Job summary

We are looking for an enthusiastic and compassionate Band 6 Physiotherapist to join our established Macmillan Cancer Prehabilitation and Rehabilitation Team on a 12-month fixed-term basis to cover maternity leave.

Working alongside a multidisciplinary team of Occupational Therapists, Dietitians, Assistant Practitioners and administrative staff, you will play a key role in delivering personalised care to people affected by cancer before, during and after treatment.

This rewarding role offers the opportunity to work across primary and secondary care settings, supporting patients to optimise their physical health, independence and wellbeing throughout their cancer journey. You will undertake specialist physiotherapy assessments, contribute to holistic needs assessments, and develop personalised rehabilitation and exercise programmes tailored to individual patient goals.

You will independently manage a varied caseload of patients with complex rehabilitation needs, providing evidence-based interventions and supporting patients to improve physical function, resilience and quality of life. Working within the East Midlands Cancer Prehabilitation Gold Standards Framework, you will collaborate closely with multidisciplinary colleagues to ensure seamless, patient-centred care.

As part of this innovative and growing service, you will contribute to service evaluation, quality improvement projects and the ongoing development of cancer prehabilitation and rehabilitation pathways.

Main duties of the job

Provide specialist physiotherapy assessment and intervention for people before, during and after cancer treatment.

Autonomously manage an agreed caseload, using evidence-based and person-centred clinical reasoning to assess physical function, mobility, exercise tolerance and rehabilitation needs; develop personalised treatment plans; and evaluate outcomes.

Work within established cancer prehabilitation and rehabilitation pathways, contributing to service evaluation and improvement under the guidance of the Band 7 clinical lead or therapy management team.

Screen patients before cancer treatment in relation to physical fitness, functional ability and rehabilitation needs. Identify nutritional or emotional concerns using agreed screening tools and refer to the appropriate dietetic, psychological or clinical professional in accordance with local pathways.

Provide targeted and specialist physiotherapy interventions for patients with complex physical and functional needs, in line with the East Midlands Gold Standard Framework and agreed local pathways.

Refer to community services where ongoing rehabilitation is required and identify appropriate adjustments or equipment to maintain or improve mobility, function and safety.

Contribute to the evaluation of the Macmillan programme by collecting agreed clinical outcomes, activity data and patient feedback, and sharing findings with the Band 7 clinical lead or service manager.

Job description

Deliver the established cancer prehabilitation and rehabilitation programme across agreed tumour pathways, working within the East Midlands Gold Standards Framework, the Macmillan Investment Application and local clinical guidance.

Support the implementation of the phased cancer prehabilitation approach, applying learning from pilot projects and regional programmes to day-to-day clinical delivery.

Contribute clinical expertise and patient-level feedback to the cancer prehabilitation and rehabilitation steering group and relevant multidisciplinary forums.

To autonomously manage a caseload of patients with complex needs, using evidence based/patient centred principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions in primary and secondary care settings to include home visits and community facilities

Screen patients prior to cancer treatment for physical fitness, functional ability, nutritional status, and emotional wellbeing.

Undertake a Holistic Needs Assessments (HNA), working collaboratively with their relevant Key Worker to address both patient and carer needs.

Use a patient centred approach to understand the individual, what matters to them and what they want to achieve.

Generate a treatment plan to meet the patients individual needs. Stratifying into universal, targeted and specialist for each domain of intervention in line with the East Midlands Gold Standards Framework

Provide targeted and specialist physiotherapy interventions for patients with complex physical and functional needs, within agreed competencies and clinical pathways. Seek advice from or refer to the Band 7 physiotherapist, medical team or other specialist services where needs exceed the post holders competence or where clinical risk is identified.

Undertake comprehensive physiotherapy assessment, including relevant observations and clinical measures such as oxygen saturation, heart rate, blood pressure, respiratory status, exercise tolerance, mobility, balance, muscle strength, range of movement, fatigue and falls risk. Recognise red flags, contraindications and signs of acute deterioration, modify or stop intervention when required, and escalate promptly through the appropriate clinical pathway.

Demonstrate effective communication skills when imparting complex information to patients/carers, other health care professionals and agencies

Identify possible locations for therapy assessment and interventions including equipment required to support functioning

Assess functional ability to ensure patients are participating in meaningful occupation, enhancing quality of life.

Empower patients to take control of their care in preparation for cancer treatment.

Provide opportunities for patients to improve their physical functioning and psychological wellbeing, improving resilience to the effects of cancer treatments.

Provide opportunities for patients to reflect on healthy lifestyles.

Develop personalised prehabilitation care plans in collaboration with patients. A treatment plan may include one to one intervention with a specialist therapist, groups, setting programmes/ tasks for patients to complete independently, signposting for advice or other speciality services.

Use an agreed screening tool to identify patients who are malnourished or at risk of malnutrition, provide information within agreed competencies and refer to dietetic or medical services in accordance with local pathways.

Use self-report measures of physical fitness and function as set out in the GSF including other brief tests such as sit to stand and sit to reach tests for basic functioning.

Apply specialist physiotherapy knowledge and clinical expertise, underpinned by relevant theory, evidence-based practice and continuing professional development, to assess and manage cancer-related physical and functional problems.

Within the agreed clinical area, take professional responsibility and accountability for physiotherapy assessment and treatment plans that maximise mobility, physical function, independence, health and wellbeing through individual and group interventions.

Work with the Macmillan Information Centre to provide a comprehensive range of material for the dedicated You-Tube channel and signpost patients to these.

Provide regular monitoring of patients before, during and after treatment and act as an ongoing point of contact in relation to prehabilitation/rehabilitation.

Identifying and referring to the relevant clinician/specialist nurse any acute medical or psychological concerns that will impact a patients treatment

Discharge patients at the end of treatment, contributing to the end of treatment summary for those who required targeted or specialist interventions.

Refer patients to other services/agencies to meet their holistic needs.

Provide rehabilitation following cancer treatment for patients with specialist needs.

Act as a physiotherapy resource to other healthcare professionals within the post holders knowledge and competence, seeking senior advice where required.

Provide compassionate communication and Level 1 psychological support within agreed competence, recognise distress or concerns requiring further assessment, and refer or escalate to the appropriate registered professional or specialist service.

Support the development, implementation and evaluation of health and wellbeing events within and outside the hospital environment.

Link with the Macmillan Allied Health Professions Advisor and other colleagues providing prehab to develop a community of practice.

Integrate prehab into the established tumour site clinical pathways.

Promote the prehab/rehab program through different media and involvement in key stakeholder groups.

Attend regional and national forums related to cancer prehab to ensure the delivery of high-quality evidence-based practice.

Work with the Macmillan Information Centre, other agencies and voluntary services to deliver activities that enhance physical and emotional wellbeing.

Refer to community therapy teams for ongoing support at home

To liaise and work closely with relevant multidisciplinary teams, ensuring continuity of care and a seamless service for patients

Promote the prehab/rehab program, maintaining effective communication across the organisation

Document clinical interventions and outcomes on the Somerset Cancer Database

Act as a member of the regional cancer prehab/rehab group

Identify opportunities for service improvement, contribute to agreed changes within own area of practice and evaluate their effect on patient experience.

Contribute to the review and development of protocols, clinical guidance and standard operating procedures for the programme, implementing agreed changes within own area of practice.

Use agreed methods to capture patient experience and contribute to action plans that improve patient care.

Work in accordance with the HCPC Standards of Conduct, Performance and Ethics and the HCPC Standards of Proficiency for Physiotherapists.

To participate in the formal review process and plan future personal development and competencies to be achieved, actively engaging with the learning and development opportunities offered by Macmillan

Make sure that people affected by cancer are aware that they are interacting with a Macmillan professional and know the full range of resources and services available through Macmillan

Actively engage with Macmillan Cancer Support to contribute expertise and experience and support the Macmillan priorities

As an autonomous practitioner, will demonstrate self-management skills and independence in thought and action and take personal responsibility for professional performance e.g., regular lone working and with clients in the community

Be responsible for maintaining and developing evidence-based practice

To maintain clinical records in accordance with legal requirements and professional standards

Provide day-to-day clinical support, teaching and supervision to students, therapy support workers and less experienced staff as delegated, and contribute to their induction and development.

Comply with clinical governance requirements, contribute to audit, incident reviews, complaints responses, service evaluation and KPI data collection, and promptly escalate risks or concerns to the Band 7 clinical lead or service manager

About us

Please submit your application as soon as possible, as we reserve the right to close adverts once sufficient applications have been received.

We recognise that AI tools can support application writing; however, candidates are asked to keep their use to a minimum. Responses should reflect your own experience, skills and knowledge, as over-reliance on AI-generated content may result in generic answers that do not accurately represent your abilities.

University Hospitals of Northamptonshire (UHN) brings together Kettering General Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and Northampton General Hospital NHS Trust. As a group, we are committed to improving services for our communities through collaboration, modernising care delivery and striving for excellence. Working together enables us to share expertise, strengthen services and create greater opportunities, and there may be a requirement to work across sites depending on service needs.

Our Excellence Values are Compassion, Accountability, Respect, Integrity and Courage. UHN welcomes applications from all backgrounds and is committed to an inclusive working environment. We are proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and hold the Gold Award under the Employer Recognition Scheme. Candidates who identify as members of the Armed Forces community and meet the essential criteria will be guaranteed an interview.