We’re really excited to be expanding our team at goPhysio in Chandlers Ford. Like in many other sectors, recruitment is tough out there at the moment and Physio is no exception. If you’re a Physio looking for a job, the market is certainly in your favour! You can look around and will have a great choice of options – whether it’s in the NHS, working in sports, being part of a bigger nationwide service provider, a smaller private practice or another sector.
Historically, working within a private practice has been seen by some in a somewhat negative light. Physio’s always have the option to work in the NHS where job security, paid leave, pension contributions, support and career progression has often been viewed as trumping what private practice can offer – and that’s tough competition for a small business as an employer!
But the tide is turning and as the private healthcare sector has to compete to attract and retain a physio workforce, the perceived gulf of benefits between the sectors is closing.
I can’t vouch for other private clinics and how they operate, but at goPhysio we’ve worked incredibly hard to create an environment where Clinicians can thrive and are supported in the best possible way. It takes a significant amount of investment, development and refining and in our 22 years of business we’ve learnt A LOT along the way! But we feel what we offer now, for the right Physio, offers a brilliant opportunity! (We are biased obviously, but read on if you want to know more!).
So, what will you find if you work at goPhysio and how do we create a great opportunity for you as a Physio?
Having time to spend with patients. Patients want to be listened to. They want to see someone they can trust, who they can build a relationship with and gets to know them, their problem and what they want to achieve. For this to happen, you need time, so we offer different lengths of appointments so you can spend the time you need with patients. You can book them back in when you think they need it and see them as and when you need to (without short cutting them in their care because of a capped number of appointments or pressures of waiting lists).
We want you to be proud to use your ‘hands on’ skills! Despite what some self proclaimed guru’s may claim online, there remains a place for ‘hands on’. Touch is a great way to build trust and a relationship with patients and you’ll have time to use hands on treatments as well as supporting patients to take responsibility for their own recovery. That combination is what patients want and what get’s results.
Dedicated administration time. Admin is an inevitable part of working life. Notes, exercises to send, letters to write, phone calls to make……it’s a crucial part of patient care and doing it all well helps us exceed our patients expectations. Because it’s so important, we provide dedicated and protected admin time in your diary, every day. We actively discourage doing any work outside of your working hours, you need time off! We have also worked hard to streamline all our processes and systems so that we have made all the admin as efficient as possible and use the latest technology and automated systems wherever we can.
Support team. In addition to our clinical team, we have a support team of 5 – so that means there is always someone on reception to manage bookings, appointments and enquiries, a Practice Manager to make sure everything runs smoothly day to day and a Non-Clinical Director (who is a Physio by training) to drive the business and oversee the strategy. This means you can get on with taking care of your patients.
Patient Centred Care. So many Physio’s still think working in private practice will be all about money over patient care. Here at goPhysio, our ethos is centred around a framework of patient centred care, so it’s all about the patients. Yes we charge for what we do, yes, we have to operate a profitable business so that we can open our doors, but profit never comes before care. If we operate a profitable healthcare business it means we can invest more into our team and facilities and help more people. It means you can deliver the level of care that you trained to deliver and want to deliver.
Quality of work. The patients who come to us for help are generally self referrals, so by this very nature, they tend to be motivated patients, who choose to come to physio and want to achieve their goals. We don’t do any intermediary work (claims) and minimal insurance work – we’ve carefully selected which insurance companies we work with, so that we only work with those that are aligned to our values. This means no endless form filling, no restrictions on numbers of sessions and not having to justify yourselves to someone in an office! Self motivated patients are a joy to work and they care about their health and wellbeing!
We are responsive, you ask, we deliver! As we are a small business, there are no major hoops to jump through, no red tape to navigate and you won’t have to endure pointless bureaucracy. You will be heard, we will listen and take action wherever we can. This includes investing in equipment and training, making changes to diaries, introducing new services, new initiatives…… we listen to any ideas! A few changes we’ve made recently include reviewing our working week, so that we don’t open on weekends and close early on a Friday (4.30pm), this helps make sure our team get to spend their weekends off. We’ve also reviewed all our perks and benefits and put together a great new package for our team (more on that below) and invested in a seated leg press for our rehab gym (aka The Strong Room).
Perks & benefits. We employ all our team, rather than have self employed associates. From our years of experience, we have found that this creates a more cohesive team, all working together towards a common goal. It gives stability and security and means we can As well as all the statutory benefits, we have recently launched a package of new perks and benefits for our team. The perks and benefits include an extra week of paid personal days every year, an extra day holiday every work anniversary (up to 35 days/year), an annual extended leave option, team ‘Kudos’ reward, free dedicated staff parking and two funded team events a year (in the past we’ve been clay pigeon shooting, to Cirque De Soleil at The Royal Albert Hall, The Crystal Maze and to The New Forest Water Park, as well as many meals out together!); amongst other things.
Individual development and support. We know that professional development and career progression is super important to most Physio’s. We embed this into our culture and provide time and resources dedicated to individual development and support. This includes initiatives such as 6 monthly Personal Development Plans, 2 hours in house training every fortnight, a 2 week induction period, access to online training platforms such as TrustMe Ed and Physio Matters and trained in house mentors. We have a dedicated Clinical Lead, who has an open door policy to support our team in all things clinical (and not) who has completed the CSP Leadership & Development Program. In addition to clinical development and support, we have an in house trained mental health first aider, a menopause ambassador and autism ambassador. We are a neurodivergent inclusive workplace and actively support members of our team who are neurodivergent. We also take physio students on placement from Southampton and Winchester.
A range of onsite services and modern, spacious clinic. In addition to our 6 private, spacious treatment rooms, we have got a dedicated Pilates studio (with 6 Pilates Reformers) and fully equipped rehab gym. We have the space, facilities and range of services to take patients out of the treatment room and progress their rehab in the best way for individuals. Whether that be strength work in the gym, a 1-2-1 Mat Pilates session or a regular Reformer Pilates class. Our multi-disciplinary team means that you can refer in house to each other, making use of the best skills and specialities within the team. We also have Shockwave Therapy and computerised foot scanner, so we can prescribe orthotics. The clinic is bright, light and airy – a real pleasure to work in.
THE CARRIAGE is a flat, lightly cushioned bed section, which you lie, kneel, sit, lunge or stand on. This platform smoothly glides up and down the rails. As the carriage moves as part of your Pilates exercises, you will need to engage and work key muscles in a controlled and symmetrical way.
In our team, we’ve got people who’ve been with us now over 10 years, over 9 years, 6 and 5 years, as well as some more recent additions. We think that’s testament to what a positive clinic to work in we’ve created. We don’t confess to always get things perfect or right, but what we do commit to is always learning, always refining what we do and how we do it and genuinely caring for our team and striving to create the best place to work that we can.
What is important to you in your role as a Physio? Private practice certainly isn’t the easy option. You need to be motivated and have the right attitude and expectations to suit private work. It is a very different culture to the NHS. But if you find the right clinic for you, it is so rewarding.
Read what our patients have to say about the care they receive, that’s what really matters at the end of the day!
If you’re interested in any opportunities we have at goPhysio, any current vacancies can be seen here. We are always interested in hearing from you if you’re looking for a new opportunity, so do feel free to email fiona@gophysiotherapy.co.uk to get in touch at any time. We always welcome and actively encourage informal visits and spending time shadowing us. This is really important, as it’s just as crucial that you find the right environment to work in as it is us finding the right people to join our team!
