Allied Health Professions

NHS employer · Cardiff, Wales

Allied health careers at Velindre University NHS Trust

Velindre University NHS Trust is a specialist trust based in Cardiff, Wales, organisation code RQF. Workforce and staff survey figures for this organisation are not in the open dataset yet, so this page does not state any. What it does cover is what the organisation type means for your caseload and rotation, where it sits, and which universities nearby train the professions it employs.

Specialist trustWales
Specialist trust Organisation type ODS code RQF
£32,557 Band 5 starting salary Wales, 2026/27 scale
Not published CQC rating Not in the open dataset for this organisation
Not published Staff survey response rate Not in the open dataset for this organisation
Not published Allied health staff Organisation-level workforce data is not in the open dataset yet
Not published Staff overall Whole-organisation headcount not published here

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 Velindre University NHS 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. Velindre University NHS Trust’s own website is the authoritative source for current vacancies and department structure.

Organisation type
Specialist trust
Based in
Cardiff
Nation
Wales
ODS code
RQF
Pay scale that applies
Agenda for Change 2026/27, Wales

Allied health professions employed here

Based on what specialist trusts run rather than on a published staff list: these are the professions whose services this kind of organisation provides. Each page covers the caseload, the pay ladder and where the local courses are.

Physiotherapist at Velindre University NHS 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.

Usually starts at band 5Taught in Wales
OT

Occupational therapist at Velindre University NHS 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.

Usually starts at band 5Taught in Wales

Diagnostic radiographer at Velindre University NHS 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.

Usually starts at band 5Taught in Wales
ODP

Operating department practitioner at Velindre University NHS Trust

Patients of all ages undergoing planned or emergency surgery and other procedures requiring anaesthesia, alongside surgeons, anaesthetists, theatre nurses and support workers.

Usually starts at band 5Taught in Wales
RD

Dietitian at Velindre University NHS 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.

Usually starts at band 5Taught in Wales
SLT

Speech and language therapist at Velindre University NHS 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.

Usually starts at band 5Taught in Wales

Podiatrist at Velindre University NHS Trust

People of all ages with foot and lower limb problems, particularly those living with diabetes, circulatory or neurological disease and arthritis, children with walking or lower limb pain, and athletes and dancers.

Usually starts at band 5Taught in Wales

Therapeutic radiographer at Velindre University NHS Trust

Adults and children having radiotherapy for cancer, and their families and carers, throughout planning, daily treatment, side-effect management and follow-up.

Usually starts at band 5Taught in Wales

Where it is, and who trains near it

Velindre University NHS Trust sits in Cardiff, Wales. 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. 6 universities in Wales run approved allied health courses, training physiotherapists, occupational therapists, diagnostic radiographers, operating department practitioners, dietitians, speech and language therapists, podiatrists and therapeutic radiographers among others.

Pay is a national question rather than a local one: Velindre University NHS Trust pays the Wales Agenda for Change rates for 2026/27, the same as every other NHS employer in the nation. For context, band 5 starts at £32,557 while median full-time pay across all occupations in Wales was £35,796 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 Wales

The providers whose placement circuits are most likely to include this organisation.

Cardiff University

diagnostic radiographers, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and therapeutic radiographers

Cardiff8 courses

Wrexham University

dietitians, occupational therapists, operating department practitioners and paramedics

Wrexham6 courses

Cardiff Metropolitan University

dietitians, podiatrists and speech and language therapists

Cardiff5 courses

Swansea University

occupational therapists, operating department practitioners, osteopaths and paramedics

Swansea5 courses

University of South Wales

art therapists, music therapists, occupational therapists and operating department practitioners

Pontypridd5 courses

Bangor University

diagnostic radiographers and physiotherapists

Bangor2 courses

Other NHS organisations in Wales

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.

NHS organisations in Wales
Organisation Type Based in
Aneurin Bevan University Health Board Health board Newport
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board Health board Bangor
Cardiff and Vale University Health Board Health board Cardiff
Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board Health board Pontypridd
Digital Health and Care Wales Specialist trust Cardiff
Health Education and Improvement Wales Specialist trust Cardiff
Hywel Dda University Health Board Health board Carmarthen
Powys Teaching Health Board Health board Brecon
Public Health Wales NHS Trust Specialist trust Cardiff
Swansea Bay University Health Board Health board Neath
Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trust Ambulance service St Asaph

How the pay ladder works here

The same four steps apply at every NHS employer; what differs is how quickly the posts come up.

£32,557 Band 5 · Newly qualified First post after registration, usually rotational.
£40,559 Band 6 · Specialist Typically two to four years in; a defined clinical specialty.
£50,129 Band 7 · Advanced or team lead Clinical leadership, complex caseload, supervision.
£58,379 Band 8a · Consultant or service lead Service-wide responsibility or consultant practice.

Next steps

Where this page’s data comes from

This page publishes the organisation record and the national pay scale only. No workforce, staff survey or inspection figures for this organisation are in the open dataset yet.