Therapy Assistant

Job description

Job responsibilities

Role & Responsibilities:

• Effectively and efficiently undertake all aspects of clinical duties and procedures required and identified in an individuals treatment plan, recognising own competencies and the scope of own role. This may be done at the hospice or within the patients own home.
• Assess patients needs within the limits of your skills and competencies.
• Apply competency-based treatment techniques/care to patients under the supervision of a qualified practitioner, following a prescribed treatment pathway including:

o Implementing activities/exercise programmes

o Ordering and supplying therapeutic equipment/aids, providing instruction and supervision/evaluation of use of equipment.

• Communicate information to patients and carers regarding their health needs and associated treatment plans as well as provide education through programmes such as FAB (Fatigue, Anxiety and Breathlessness).
• Make basic judgements on a patients response to prescribed treatment, and report findings to a qualified practitioner.
• Plan and prioritise own visits in accordance with therapy guidelines and theprioritisation tools used by the team to delegated patients and ensure these are documented on SystmOne.
• Ensure that SystmOne inputting is completed daily.
• Effectively recognise and manage challenging behaviours in patients, carers and or relatives.
• Effectively use all forms/methods of communication and be aware of and manage barriers to communication. Where there are barriers tounderstanding, such as hearing impairment, mental capacity impairment and other difficulties in comprehension, adjust explanations to gain understanding, consent and concordance.
• Establish and maintain therapeutic relationships with patients and carers, incorporating motivation, encouragement and confidence building to enable patients to engage in their treatment/care and management plan.

• Make all necessary reasonable adjustments to enable all service users to achieve desired clinical outcomes and communicate these to facilitate on-going care
• Provide information as required to the team, patient, carer and or relatives
• Liaise with the wider BHH Multi-disciplinary Team (MDT) and communicate with external health and social care teams as required to ensure identified needs are met and care is co-ordinated appropriately.
• Report and take appropriate action regarding any change in patient condition or circumstance, and communicate verbal and written information to all relevant team members
• Actively contribute to protecting people at risk by assessing and monitoring the care environment and individuals and by following and acting on and within Safeguarding policies and procedures.
• Respect the dignity of individuals, obtaining consent and involving them, their carers and or families and relatives in shared discussion making.
• Provide an administrative role for the patient groups.

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

• Band 3
• - NVQ Level III in care / BTEC Health & Social Care or equivalent
• Band 4
• - Foundation Degree programme or equivalent demonstratable knowledge and skills acquired through training and experience.

Desirable

• Additional training in:
• oPalliative Care
• oCare of the Older person

Other

Essential

• - Ability to work flexibly as required and according to the needs of the organisation
• - Ability to kneel, bend & stoop, and work in sometimes cramped environments in peoples homes
• - Ability to manoeuvre patients using handling aids
• - Full current driving licence with ability and willingness to use own vehicle

Experience

Essential

• Band 3
• - Experience of working in adult health or social care setting
• - Experience of signposting services for individuals
• - Experience of working in a confidential environment
• - Experience of working in a multi-disciplinary team
• Band 4
• - Previous work as a Therapy Assistant or equivalent (e.g. Exercise Physiologist, Occupational Therapy Assistant, Physiotherapy Assistant) where direct patient care is involved in a healthcare environment.
• - Working with adult patients with life-limiting illnesses

Desirable

• - Experience in health and social care field including safeguarding, motivational interviewing, mental health awareness
• - Experience of working in a hospice environment
• - Experience of working within a community care setting in peoples own homes
• - Experience of using SystmOne
• - Working within a multi-disciplinary team.
• - Experience of evaluation, standard setting and evidence-based practice within a healthcare/ rehabilitation setting
• - Able to run or facilitate groups

Skills/Ability/ Knowledge

Essential

• - IT skills including Microsoft software and to be able to process information electronically on data bases and maintain records
• - Ability to facilitate and support people who are newly diagnosed and/or at End of Life
• - Understand factors that influence health and wellbeing and be able to facilitate, engage, motivate and support clients and their carers to make their own decisions
• - Understand the implications for, and responsibilities of the post relating to Risk Management and Safeguarding
• - Ability to work under pressure and remain calm in stressful situations
• - Excellent verbal and written communication skills with accuracy and attention to detail
• - Good telephone manner
• - Excellent interpersonal skills
• - Highly organised, ability to manage and plan workload and prioritise effectively
• - Flexible approach in coping with varying demands of the role
• - Ability to work alone or as part of a team with guidance/supervision from qualified staff, mainly at a distance.
• - Work to agreed targets
• - Ability to assess a patient with specific objective assessment tools, sometimes without supervision
• - Effective time management and organisational skills.
• - Ability to act on own initiative, e.g. responding to an emergency
• - The effects of physical and cognitive impairment, on skills abilities and lifestyle
• - Exercise prescription and monitoring e.g. of physiological signs during exercise
• - Health and safety responsibilities.
• - Data protection and patient confidentiality.

Desirable

• - Knowledge of, and signposting to other community services
• - General knowledge of the impact of life-limiting illness
• - Risk assessment.
• - Audit
• - Service development

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Employer details

Employer name

Blythe House Hospicecare

Address

Eccles Fold

Chapel-en-le-frith

High Peak

Derbyshire

SK23 9TJ

Employer's website

https://www.blythehousehospice.org.uk (Opens in a new tab)