Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist First Contact Practitioner

Norfolk Community Health and Care NHS Trust

The closing date is 10 March 2026

We're looking for an exceptional Physiotherapist to join our MSK Team providing a high quality, patient centred and innovative service. This fixed term contract will be for maternity cover.

This band 7 blended FCP/Physio role will involve providing expert patient-centred assessment, diagnosis and first-line treatment for individual GP practices across the South Primary Care Networks in a variety of settings and using a combination of face-to-face and virtual consultations.

An ability to manage undifferentiated and undiagnosed conditions and identify red flags and underlying serious pathology and take appropriate action is critical to the role. Extensive ongoing MSK experience and knowledge to an advanced level will therefore be essential requirements. A comprehensive understanding of MSK and other integrated health care pathways will also underpin the role.

We look forward to meeting you at interview.

The role will require the postholder to run clinics both virtual and face-to-face in GP practices as part of the First Contact Practitioner service while also providing ongoing musculoskeletal (MSK) physiotherapy assessment and treatment as part of the Norfolk and Waveney MSK services.

Both roles will require the post-holder to use specialist theoretical and practical knowledge and undertake the advanced assessment of patients within the specialty who may have simple, moderately or highly complex MSK conditions or a chronic presentation.

Assessments and treatments will take the form of face-to-face or virtual consultations to enhance patient access to both services.

Flexible hours are an option for this role. Early mornings, evenings may be required. Work bases will vary on need across the South PCNs.

Norfolk Community Health and Care MSK Services incorporate First Contact Practitioners across the South PCN and Norfolk and Waveney MSK Services. Norfolk and Waveney MSK is a partnership between NCH&C and East Coast Community Healthcare. Our Clinical Team comprises band Orthopaedic Clinical Specialists, FCPs, Physiotherapists, Occupational Therapists and Technical Instructors. FCP clinics are held either virtually, in the GP surgery or as a combination.

We provide comprehensive in-service training and opportunities to attain further career development as an Advanced Practitioner in line with Health Education England's Roadmap to Practice.

Apply now to join an organisation that has been awarded an 'Outstanding' rating by the Care Quality Commission (CQC), the highest possible rating and the first stand-alone NHS community trust in the country to be awarded the title.

Within the FCP service the postholder

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• Will work as an autonomous practitioner and perform frontline patient screening who have self-referred to the GP practice, and to manage undifferentiated and undiagnosed conditions which may not be musculoskeletal in origin.
  
• Will have knowledge across several different clinical fields in order to triage referrals appropriately. Knowledge and interpretation of general health, organisational and occupational policies together with expert clinical analysis is required for the postholder to assume ultimate responsibility for these decisions.
  
• Will act independently to assess, analyse and provide a clinical diagnosis for individual patients, using high level complex decision making to inform the diagnosis, treatment and management and onward referral within scope of practice of a wide range of patients with musculoskeletal conditions from routine to highly complex. A key element of the role will be to be able to quickly identify red flag conditions and/or other underlying serious pathology requiring potential emergency care and take the appropriate action to determine which clinical pathway will be most suitable for the patient.
  
• Will be required to refer for diagnostics, to analyse the results and take appropriate action by referring to other team and services e.g. in primary and secondary care. The