Irish Physio Options: Working in the UK

Hi There

Just a quick work on working in the UK as a physiotherapist:

Working in the UK

There are two ways that exist for people who wish to work in the UK as a physiotherapist.

The first one for is for those who fall within the European Economic which includes all the EU countries plus Iceland, Norway, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

The second is for those living outside the European Economic Area, this includes all other countries.

This blog will mainly deal with information that is in relation to people from the European Economic Area, but there will be links at the bottom of this page with information for anyone that is from outside the European Union.

The first thing that you must do is to get registered by the Health and Care Professions Council (HCPC). They are the regulatory body for the physiotherapy and a number of other healthcare professions in the UK.

The HCPC also are the body that will verify and credit you qualifications. The registration route that all new graduates must use is the International registration route; the application progress has four steps which are out lined below.

Step one: Application received by the HCPC – at this stage if your application is accepted for processing they will take the scrutiny payment at this stage and send you a receipt for that.

If your application is not accepted for processing, it will be returned to you along with your scrutiny payment and reasons why you application was not accepted.

Step two: Initial processing – this normally four weeks from receipt.

During this period they will contact your education provider, any relevant regulatory or professional bodies and any professional referees. This is to verify the information that you have provided.

Step three: Assessment of qualification – this normally twelve weeks from the end of stage 2.

The next stage is the assessment of your education, training and experience. Your application will be sent to two assessors. Who will consider all of the information that you have submitted before making their recommendation. When the assessors have given their recommendation it will then be reviewed by the Education and Training Committee (ETC) who will send you their final decision.

Step 4: Feedback from the assessors

At this stage you are able to get specific feedback from the assessors on you applicant if needs be.

Then following your acceptance for admission to be registered, you have to pay a registration fee of £76 per year.

Cited Source: Health and Care Professions, available at http://www.hpc-uk.org/apply/international/ accessed: 13/05/2013.

Following registration of the HCPC you can also register with the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, but it is not compulsively for any physiotherapist in the UK to join it and you are still able to work in the HSE without being a member of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy. If you want more information on the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy UK, Please follow the link at the bottom of this page.

The last part of today’s post is just a quick breakdown of the stranded salaries of physiotherapist working in the NHS. Band 5 = basic grade physio, Band 6 = 3 year or more experiences, band 7 = senior grade physiotherapist.

The starting salary for a physiotherapist in (NHS) is £21,176-£27,625 (Band 5). This can rise to £25,528-£34,189 for specialist physiotherapists (Band 6) and £30,460-£40,157 for advanced physiotherapists (Band 7).

The NHS offers a generous amount of annual leave of 27 days to newly qualified physiotherapists.

Physiotherapists typically work 37.5 hours a week. The hours are usually during daytime between Monday and Friday. Some weekend and night duty on a rota basis may be required and newly qualified staffs are not exempt.

Cited Source: prospects.ac.uk, available at: http://www.prospects.ac.uk/physiotherapist_salary.htm accessed: 13/05/2013.

Useful Websites:

Health and Care Professions Council

www.hpc-uk.org

Chartered Society of Physiotherapy UK

www.csp.org.uk

Physiotherapist - NHS Careers

http://www.nhscareers.nhs.uk/explore-by-career/allied-health-professions/careers-in-the-allied-health-professions/physiotherapist/

HM Revenue & Customs: Coming to work in the UK

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/migrantworkers/

Important websites for Non European Economic Area

UK Border and Immigration Authority