Inspirational Story

How did you start out your career as a physiotherapist?

I qualified as a physiotherapist in 2006, from Sheffield Hallam. It was the year where there were very few jobs and we were told in our final weeks we may want to look into other career options. There were 500 people going for 1 junior rotation job and it became nearly a full time job applying for any post available. I gained employment in an admin role and secured employment as a support worker. I then moved to Hull as I secured my first junior rotation job and then moved back to Sheffield after a year completing further junior rotations.

It is quite a different situation when applying for physiotherapy roles now, there are lots of options and it is very likely you will get a job shortly after qualifying.

What was the next step in your career?

I then gained a band 6 job in a new team in the Rotherham care homes team, then secured a further band 6 post in the Barnsley community COPD team. After this I moved back to Rotherham to be the band 7 physiotherapist on the semi secure mental health unit for older people with dementia and functional mental health problems. Whilst working here I had two children and whilst on my second lot of maternity leave secured a band 8a post as clinical lead for intermediate care in Barnsley.

What do you enjoy most about your role?

I have always enjoyed being an holistic therapist and particularly working with the elderly. In my current role that is heavily managed by nursing staff, they joked that I’m a hybrid therapist and think in a nursing way as well as a therapeutic way.

What is the next step for you on your career journey?

I have just secured a trainee Advanced Clinical Practice (ACP) role at Rotherham Foundation Trust and start my masters this month (September) at Sheffield University. This role will be working in primary care in the urgent and emergency care centre. I am really looking forward to the new challenge and being able to pull all my wide knowledge together and build on previous experiences.

Why did you want to take on this new role?

I wanted to take on this role to expand on my knowledge and also to show just how much AHPs can bring to a medical/nursing team. I am the only ACP at Rotherham that is a physiotherapist, the rest are nurses and paramedics by background.

This feels like it’s the next natural step in my career, in my previous management role I missed seeing patients face to face. I am looking forward to treating patients again. However it is a big challenge going back to university at 36 years old with 2 young children, but I hope I am successful. This role has enabled me to secure my banding whilst maintaining clinical face to face duties. ACP roles seem to be going from strength to strength and I really feel that AHPs have a lot to offer in these roles.