Acute Physiotherapist

• Waikato Hospital
• Fixed Term, part-time position, 0.5 FTE / 40 hours per fortnight
• Available as of 11 May 2026 for 12 months parental leave cover
• Rostering negotiable
  • week 1 – three days - Wednesday to Friday (32 hours)
  • week 2 – two days - Thursday to Friday (16 hours) or three days -Wednesday to Friday reduced hours (16 hours)

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is firmly grounded in the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is committed to building a health system that serves all New Zealanders.

About the Role

Are you looking for a new and exciting challenge in a busy hospital setting? Are you someone who thrives under pressure and brings a can do attitude to the workplace?

Are you flexible, love to learn and wish to grow? We are seeking a passionate physiotherapist to complement our strong acute team here at Waikato Hospital.

As a successful candidate you will play a key role in supporting our team to assess patients, design focused treatment programmes to accelerate patient recovery and be recommending suitable discharge plans to help patients progress along their care continuum. You will need to be skilled with respiratory, geriatric and early mobility assessments. This position involves all aspects of physiotherapy practice in an academic tertiary hospital setting in one of New Zealand’s fastest growing regions. We are offering a part time, fixed term position in our acute team to provide high quality, patient focused interventions to our acute patients. We offer peer review, supervision, continuing education and professional development, comprehensive online information and an excellent library of resources. 

Come and join our dynamic team where every day brings new challenges in a fast-paced environment. You'll collaborate closely with your peers to prioritise patient care, deliver focused and impactful therapy sessions that make a real difference to the lives of our patients.

This is a part time, fixed term position to cover for parental leave, 40 hours per fortnight Wed to Friday and Thursday and Friday.  

We also have an exciting on call service which provides you with the exposure and experience to advance and maintain your respiratory care skills.

Click here to view the position description

Key responsibilities of the role:

• Be hardworking, responsible, driven and reliable
• Learning mind set, flexible and adaptable
• Carry a full caseload of patients
• Provide high quality, safe and effective care
• Manage your time and prioritise effectively
• Take on feedback graciously and use it to drive your growth

About the Team/Service

The Physiotherapy service has approximately ninety staff including Physiotherapists, assistants and administrators that work across the large geographical area that is Te Whatu Ora, Waikato. We have staff based at Waikato Hospital, our secondary hospital in Thames and our 3 rural hospitals in Tokoroa, Te Kuiti and Taumaranui and across our many community bases in areas such as Morrinsville, Matamata, Cambridge, and Ngāruawāhia. 

Our vision is to provide quality physiotherapy care to promote, encourage and enable people to lead their lives with dignity, quality and independence. Our mission is to ensure that patients receive excellent care, that our staff are supported and trained to work and maintain levels of evidence based practice and that our service is equitable, efficient and effective in.

About you

Skills and experience you’ll need to be considered for the role:

• At least 2 years of acute respiratory experience preferred
• Current NZ physiotherapy registration and APC
• Passion for learning, be adaptable to change and be eager to gain clinical experience across a variety of clinical areas
• Evidence informed assessment and treatment skills
• Excellent time management skills
• You enjoy mentoring and training up junior clinicians and students
• Opportunity to join our weekend and on-call roster
• You will need the ability to work autonomously and collaboratively as part of the physiotherapy and wider multi-disciplinary team across a variety of environments
• You will have excellent communication skills in order to effectively liaise with patients, their whānau and other health care professionals

Working at Health New Zealand

Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is dedicated to ensuring excellent healthcare for the people of New Zealand. We embrace a workforce that is diverse and inclusive so that we are better positioned to understand and service our community. We welcome applications from our diverse Māori, Pacific, disabled, and rainbow communities.

How to Apply

To apply please click “Apply online” or apply via our Waikato Careers website by clicking here

All applications must be submitted through our online careers’ portal before 11:59 pm on Wednesday 13 May 2026. 

If you have any questions about the role, please contact Kasper.Kulak@tewhatuora.govt.nz

We will review applications as received and may proceed with the recruitment process, before the closing date of this advert.