NHS employer · Liverpool, North West
Allied health careers at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust
Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust is a specialist trust based in Liverpool, North West, organisation code RBS. Below: what the published data says about this organisation, what its type means for an allied health caseload, and where the courses that feed it are taught.
What working here is like
A specialist trust concentrates on one field — children’s services, cancer, orthopaedics, eyes, heart and lung, or neurosciences — often as a regional or national referral centre. The caseload is narrow and complex: patients are referred in precisely because their care is beyond what a district general hospital provides.
That changes the shape of a career. You go deep quickly and work alongside people who do nothing else, which is unusually good for developing an advanced clinical specialism, but you see less breadth than a rotation through a general hospital would give you. Posts here are frequently specialist from appointment rather than rotational, and some specialist centres recruit at band 6 rather than band 5 for that reason.
None of that is specific to Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust — it is what the organisation type tells you, and it is the part that reliably holds. The parts that vary between two organisations of the same type are the size of each department, how rotations are structured, how much band 6 progression is built into the establishment, and how far apart the sites are. Those are questions for the recruitment page and for the informal visit that most allied health departments will happily arrange before you apply. Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust’s own website is the authoritative source for current vacancies and department structure.
- Organisation type
- Specialist trust
- Based in
- Liverpool
- Region
- North West
- NHS region
- North West
- Nation
- England
- ODS code
- RBS
- Pay scale that applies
- Agenda for Change 2026/27, England
- Website
- alderhey.nhs.uk
Allied health professions employed here
The professions Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust publishes staff figures for come first; the rest are services a specialist trust normally runs, listed because the workforce return does not cover every profession. Each page covers the caseload, the pay ladder and where the local courses are.
Physiotherapist at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust
People of all ages with musculoskeletal pain and injury, neurological conditions, respiratory and cardiac disease, frailty and falls risk, long-term conditions, and those recovering from surgery or critical illness.
Occupational therapist at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust
People of all ages recovering from surgery, stroke or injury, and people living with mental illness, learning disability, dementia, long-term conditions or physical disability who want to live more independently.
Diagnostic radiographer at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust
Patients of all ages, from newborns to older people, who need imaging for diagnosis, screening, monitoring or image-guided treatment, including trauma, cancer, cardiac and emergency patients.
Operating department practitioner at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust
Patients of all ages undergoing planned or emergency surgery and other procedures requiring anaesthesia, alongside surgeons, anaesthetists, theatre nurses and support workers.
Dietitian at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust
People of all ages with medical conditions affected by diet — including digestive, kidney, metabolic and swallowing disorders, malnutrition, food allergy, obesity and eating disorders — as well as healthy populations.
Speech and language therapist at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust
Children and adults with speech, language, communication or swallowing needs, including people after stroke or brain injury, autistic people, people with learning disabilities, progressive neurological conditions, head and neck cancer and voice disorders.
Art therapist at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust
Children, young people, adults and older people living with mental health difficulties, trauma, learning disabilities, neurodivergence, dementia, life-limiting illness or emotional and behavioural difficulties.
Music therapist at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust
People of all ages with emotional or mental health difficulties, learning or physical disabilities, developmental conditions including autism, neurological conditions, dementia, and life-limiting or palliative illness.
Allied health staff at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust
Published full-time equivalent staff by profession as at 31 December 2025. These are staff in post, not vacancies — but the size of a department is the single best guide to what working in it is like. A large establishment means more specialisms in-house, more senior colleagues to be supervised by and more rotation slots; a small one means a broader scope of practice earlier and fewer people to learn it from.
| Profession | Full-time equivalent | As at |
|---|---|---|
| Speech and language therapist | 86 | 31 December 2025 |
| Physiotherapist | 75.3 | 31 December 2025 |
| Operating department practitioner | 69.8 | 31 December 2025 |
| Dietitian | 35 | 31 December 2025 |
| Occupational therapist | 30.6 | 31 December 2025 |
| Diagnostic radiographer | 30.3 | 31 December 2025 |
| Orthoptist | 9 | 31 December 2025 |
| Prosthetist/orthotist | 4.8 | 31 December 2025 |
| Art therapist | 1.3 | 31 December 2025 |
| Music therapist | 1 | 31 December 2025 |
| Paramedic | 0.7 | 31 December 2025 |
The largest allied health group published here is speech and language therapists, at 86 full-time equivalent of 343.8 across every profession published here, in an organisation of 4,056.8 staff in total. Professions with no published row are not necessarily absent — the feed publishes what the organisation returned.
The organisation as a whole
Staff group totals as published, for context on the figures above.
| Staff group | Full-time equivalent | Headcount | As at |
|---|---|---|---|
| All staff groups | 4,056.8 | 4,568 | 31 December 2025 |
| Ambulance staff | 0.7 | 1 | 31 December 2025 |
| Scientific, therapeutic & technical staff | 682.8 | 792 | 31 December 2025 |
Where it is, and who trains near it
Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust sits in Liverpool, North West. Geography matters more in allied health recruitment than in most NHS careers, because pre-registration courses carry a large block of supervised clinical practice and those placements are commissioned with the trusts and boards nearest the university. Students placed with an organisation know its systems, its staff and its patients before they graduate, and a substantial share of newly qualified appointments go to people who were placed there. 11 universities in the North West run approved allied health courses, training physiotherapists, occupational therapists, diagnostic radiographers, operating department practitioners, dietitians, speech and language therapists and art therapists among others.
Pay is a national question rather than a local one: Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust pays the England Agenda for Change rates for 2026/27, the same as every other NHS employer in the nation. For context, band 5 starts at £32,073 while median full-time pay across all occupations in the North West was £37,361 in 2025. What does vary between employers is everything around the salary: how long a rotation lasts, how much protected time you get for supervision and continuing professional development, whether band 6 progression is planned into the establishment, and how far you will drive between sites.
Universities in the North West
The providers whose placement circuits are most likely to include this organisation.
University of Cumbria
diagnostic radiographers, occupational therapists, paramedics and physiotherapists
University of Lancashire
dietitians, occupational therapists, operating department practitioners and paramedics
University of Salford
diagnostic radiographers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and podiatrists
University of Liverpool
diagnostic radiographers, occupational therapists, orthoptists and physiotherapists
Manchester Metropolitan University
dietitians, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and speech and language therapists
University of Greater Manchester
operating department practitioners, paramedics and physiotherapists
University of Chester
art therapists and dietitians
Edge Hill University
operating department practitioners and paramedics
Liverpool Hope University
physiotherapists
Other NHS organisations in the North West
The realistic alternatives if you are looking for a first post in this area — they pay the same bands, so the difference is the caseload.
How the pay ladder works here
The same four steps apply at every NHS employer; what differs is how quickly the posts come up.
Next steps
- All NHS employers — Grouped by nation and region
- England pay scales — Every band, every point
- The allied health job market — Workforce and vacancies by profession
- Universities — Where the placements come from
- The professions — What each job actually involves
- Training routes — Degree, master’s or apprenticeship
Where this page’s data comes from
- NHS Workforce StatisticsNHS England (published on digital.nhs.uk) · Open Government Licence v3.0 · checked 3 September 2026Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- HCPC register summary and registrant snapshots (aggregate)Health and Care Professions Council · No open licence stated; HCPC copyright · checked 3 September 2026
- Agenda for Change pay scales and NHS terms and conditions handbookNHS Employers (NHS Confederation) · No open licence stated; NHS Employers copyright · checked 3 September 2026
- ONS Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) via NomisOffice for National Statistics, delivered by Nomis (Durham University) · Open Government Licence v3.0 · checked 3 September 2026Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- directory.spineservices.nhs.ukCited page
- alderhey.nhs.ukCited page