Senior Therapy Technical Instructor - Therapies Complex Discharge Team

Job responsibilities

To be an integral member of a therapies team, to assist registered therapy staff in assessing and carrying out specific therapy interventions for clients with more complex needs. This will include clients who have difficulties understanding and communicating

Review and implement treatment programmes making necessary modifications prior to reporting back to a registered therapist in line with the band 4 competency framework.

Provide support and training to other registered and non-registered staff within the therapy team.

Manage and prioritise own case load independently, carry out delegated duties and work flexibly in order to support the smooth running of the therapy department.

To participate in 7 day working patterns, including bank holidays

Provision of clinical services:

Demonstrate a good understanding of medical conditions within the area of speciality / clinical pathway and the impact of these on the patients function and rehabilitation.

To have a holistic understanding of the patient and their condition, as well as the impact of psychosocial dynamics on their function.

To enable patients to co-operate in their rehabilitation programme using encouragement, reassurance, tact and sensitivity; overcome barriers to understanding with patients whose understanding is impaired.

To identify and implement correct treatment plans within known patient care pathways under the indirect supervision of a registered therapist.

To assess, formulate and adapt treatment and discharge plans for patients in conjunction with registered therapy staff

Be able to use functional tasks to assess a patients physical and/or cognitive abilities under indirect supervision of the registered therapist

To identify patients that do not fall within care pathway / agreed framework and who need referral to registered staff

Using protocols and set processes to assess patients mobility and functional abilities and assess for and issue appropriate low-level equipment.

To provide advice to patients / carers on safe use and care of prescribed equipment.

Within competencies, be able to provide therapy treatments to patients who have a history of falls

To constantly assess patients stamina / understanding during treatment sessions and modify treatment as appropriate.

To work in a flexible and responsive way when under pressure

To provide and receive complex patient care information with the multi-professional team, patients and carers in board rounds, ward rounds, family meetings and discharge planning meetings and use this information to modify patient care.

To provide advice to patients / carers on safe use and care of prescribed equipment.

Maintain accurate and up to date records of clinical interventions, consistent with legal and organisational requirements.

Be responsible for maintaining rehabilitation equipment in the department.

Improving patient and visitor experiences:

To be a point of contact for patients and relatives in the clinical area.

To communicate factual and sometimes complex information to patients and relatives with patients consent.

To contribute to the development and sharing of patient and carer information.

Support with gathering and using patient feedback to help improve and develop services.

Respect the individuality, values, cultural and religious diversity of patients and contribute to the provision of a service sensitive to these needs.

Be aware of ethical issues which impact on Therapy service provision and work under the guidance of Therapists in relation to this.

Using audit, evaluation and research:

Through guidance from the registered Therapists, be aware of and implement, evidence-based practice and outcome measures as appropriate to the clinical area.

Support therapists to implement agreed action plans from both national and local strategies, benchmarking standards and clinical audits as appropriate.

Participate in audit and research projects as required by service leads and collect data as required.

Support therapists to foster a culture which allows innovation and practice development within the clinical area.

Monitor outcomes of patient intervention using outcome measures under indirect supervision from registered therapist

Collect and record accurate and timely data / information to contribute to department service standards and procedures.

Management and Teamwork:

To provide delegation of work and day to day clinical supervision to band 3 Therapy Technical Instructors and band 2 Therapy Assistants with support from the Therapy Clinical Lead.

To actively participate in the clinical education of therapy students.

To participate actively in sharing and receiving in-service training and development to ensure continuous professional development, as appropriate to grade and experience.

Support the induction of new staff.

To identify training needs and facilitate professional development through active participation in supervision and appraisals.

To recognise limitations of own scope of practice.

To submit claim forms in a timely manner following the departments Health Roster Standard Operating Procedure.

Planning and Organisational Skills

Work with therapists across all of the service as required.

Work flexibly to provide cover to other clinical areas according to the needs of patients and demands of the service

Assist therapists in arranging and providing in-service training, study days etc.

Assist the therapists in ensuring working conditions are kept optimal, or where not, dealt with appropriately.

Trust Wide Responsibilities

Act as a resource for members of the multi-disciplinary teams across the Trust through involvement in multi professional teaching and training in the area of expertise.

Act as a role model in customer service towards patients, visitors and staff in the hospital

Regularly attend and participate in care group and professional meetings.

Education Training and Qualifications

Essential

• Personal portfolio of evidence of work based learning in healthcare
• Or NVQ level 4 in care related topic or good standard of education equivalent to A level or BTec

Desirable

• Foundation degree or equivalent in health related subject.
• A combination of short relevant courses

Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Working in an acute NHS healthcare environment.
• Significant Experience of working with a broad range of medical conditions and age groups.
• Knowledge and understanding of roles, responsibilities and working practices of Occupational Therapists and Physiotherapists
• Recognise boundaries of own scope of practice and duty of care, seeking assistance as appropriate
• Understanding of basic anatomy and physiology relevant to Therapy care including muscle groups, gait and skeletal anatomy
• Basic IT skills including use of email
• Knowledge of the psychosocial elements of healthcare
• Principles of confidentiality

Desirable

• Experience of working within a community based setting.

Skills

Essential

• Well-developed communication skills, including interpersonal skills, liaison, influencing and negotiation.
• Ability to work on own without immediate support
• Ability to organise and prioritise own workload
• Ability to delegate and organise others
• Ability to use initiative in addressing own learning needs and appraise own performance
• Basic IT literacy, including use of emails in Microsoft or similar
• Ability to problem solve.
• Pass trust standard literacy and numeracy tests
• Good observation skills.

Key competencies/ Personal Qualities and Attributes

Essential

• Flexible and confident manner with a positive approach and high levels of motivation
• Ability to manage work pressures to enable management of a caseload alongside involvement in non-clinical and professional activities
• Appreciation of the dynamics of working within a team
• Commitment to own personal and professional development
• Enthusiasm for contributing towards development of the Therapy services
• Physical ability to undertake manual handling of patients and equipment on a daily basis
• Personal resources to cope when dealing with patients with complex conditions, acute or terminal illnesses, traumatic injuries, mental impairment and challenging behaviours on a daily basis
• Professional manner and appearance
• Personal mobility to move across the hospital site between clinic/office/treatment areas
• Cope with exposure to body fluids, distressing situations and infections

Desirable

• Car driver and ability to travel between hospital sites and patient homes

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.

Certificate of Sponsorship

Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. For further information visit the UK Visas and Immigration website (Opens in a new tab).

From 6 April 2017, skilled worker applicants, applying for entry clearance into the UK, have had to present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Adult dependants (over 18 years old) are also subject to this requirement. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants (Opens in a new tab).