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Leeds Teaching Hospitals

Assistant Therapy Practitioner

The closing date is 21 November 2025

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Job summary

Expected Shortlisting Date

24/11/2025

Planned Interview Date

02/12/2025

Assistant Therapy Practitioner Multi-Speciality Optimisation Team

St. James Hospital

Band 4 Assistant Therapy Practitioner (Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy)

Do you have a keen interest in both Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy? Do you have a passion for holistic patient-centred care? Then why not join us at Leeds Teaching Hospitals; the recognised Leeds Way Values underpin our way of work and Leeds as a city has so much to offer.

We are looking to appoint a motivated and experienced therapy support worker to join the Multi-Speciality Optimisation Team (MOT) team as a Band 4 Assistant Therapy Practitioner. The successful applicant will join the integrated Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy team, covering wards designated for those patients who no longer have medical care needs, yet require further therapy intervention prior to discharge or have complex social needs.

The team works together to assess physical, cognitive and social needs to achieve and facilitate the best outcome for patients when leaving hospital. This will be a new post to the team with the aim of reducing the time patients spend in hospital once they no longer require further medical intervention.

Main duties of the job

The post-holder should have an understanding of Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy and the ability to work through their respective processes. They will independently manage a non-complex caseload within the boundaries of the job role & seek support as needed from registered members of the team. The successful applicant will have knowledge of discharge pathways.

Excellent communication skills are essential for this role. Teamwork is paramount, both within the MOT and the wider-multidisciplinary team. Applicants should have with excellent time management skills to aid individual caseload prioritisation, alongside supporting the wider team. Experience of working with patients with complex physical and social needs will be beneficial in the role.

In-service training is provided and the post holder would also join the support worker group which will provide peer support for non-registered staff. The Trust has an excellent Organisational Learning department which provides a wide range of opportunities to learn & develop in a wide variety of areas.

Interviews will be held on Tuesday 2nd December at St James Hospital.

For further information please contact:

Helen Stebbings, Therapy Lead Patient Flow - helen.stebbings@nhs.net - 07586729371

Ezra Matebele senior Physiotherapist - ezra.matebele@nhs.net - 0113 2065342

About us

Leeds Teaching Hospitals is committed to our process of redeploying 'at risk' members of our existing workforce to new roles. As such, all our job adverts are subject to this policy and we reserve the right to close, delay or remove adverts while this process is completed. If you do experience a delay in the shortlisting stage of the recruitment cycle, please bear with us while this process is completed, and contact the named contact if you have any questions.

Date posted

31 October 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 4

Salary

£27,485 to £30,162 a year

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time

Reference number

C9298-ATH-445

Job locations

St. James's University Hospital

Beckett Street

Leeds

LS9 7TF

Job description

Job responsibilities

JOB PURPOSE

To work within the occupational therapy and physiotherapy teams providing highly skilled and specialised clinical, administrative and organisational support, working in the Emergency and Speciality Medicine service at SJUH.

The post holder will work independently to manage the initial phase of the therapy assessment pathway, will be responsible for the screening of patients attending Elderly Medical specialist ward and determine the most appropriate initial assessments and interventions. The post holder will manage a caseload of patients independently and be able to work with infrequent supervision from OT and Physiotherapy support. On occasions the post holder will assess home environments to ensure safe discharge, without the supervision of a qualified member of staff.

Day to day supervisory support and overall management will be provided to the Joint Therapy Support Worker by occupational therapy and physiotherapy staff.

The post holder is responsible for:

1. Assessing and providing care and therapy interventions for individual patients, adapting the process as indicated.

2. Assessment and intervention may take place in patients homes, clinics or wards.

KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE REQUIRED

Essential

Level 3 qualification in relevant health/social care related subject.

GCSE English and Maths grade C minimum or Functional Skills equivalent

Experience working as a therapy support worker in an acute setting

Experience in organising and running groups

Able to understand and apply therapy process and patient pathways regarding the delivery of therapy/care

Communication skills - written, verbal and numeracy

Interpersonal skills

Ability to work as part of both uni and multi professional teams

Ability to work independently/manage workload under guidance Ability to respond and act upon feedback from others

Problem solving

Time management

Organisational skills

Show initiative

Demonstrate continued professional and personal development

Ability to move and handle patients and equipment

Maintain confidentiality.

Experience of working in a Healthcare, Education or Social Care setting as a carer or similar.

Demonstrate an awareness of people with disabilities and problems

Demonstrate understanding of both Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapist

Desirable

Previous experience of working in a therapy setting

Experience of using Information Technology systems

Completion of the CARE certificate. Otherwise will be mandatory training requirement during the first 3 months of employment.

8. CORE BEHAVIOURS AND SKILLS

Communication Skills written, verbal, numeracy

Interpersonal Skills

Ability to work as part of a Team (OT, PT and MDT)

Ability to manage a workload provided by more than one professional.

Problem-solving

Time Management

Organisational Skills

Administrative Skills

Able to work in a stressful environment

Ability to use initiative

Ability to influence and persuade

Ability to take responsibility for personal development

Ability to move and handle patients and equipment

9. CORE KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING

Understanding of Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy job roles.

Awareness of the needs and problems of those with illness and disabilities

Awareness of the functional effects of the patient group in the clinical area caused by illness and / or disability.

Understanding of legislation, guidelines and protocols that affect the clinical area

Awareness of Health and Safety

10. PRINCIPAL DUTIES & AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY

Clinical

To accept responsibility for Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy initial assessments to facilitate rehabilitation and discharge from hospital.

To plan and prioritise clinical tasks.

To deliver the service using patient pathways and protocols to support your delivery of therapy process and taking into account each patients individual physical, social and emotional needs.

To make contact with patients to initiate assessments and intervention.

To analyse and make decisions about the most appropriate environment in which to carryout intervention.

To independently carry out home and community assessments.

To motivate and persuade patients and carers to participate in therapy intervention.

To assess and advise patients regarding transfers, falls, equipment and risks.

To assess, prescribe and train patients and carers in the use of assistive equipment.

To assess, deliver, fit and demonstrate equipment in patients home and to provide advice and training to patients and carers as required.

To interpret and analyse information from assessments, judge how to progress intervention and when to liaise with a qualified member of staff eg. Nurse, Doctor, Occupational Therapist or Physiotherapist.

To assess risk factors and judge when to summons assistance or adapt the treatment session

To communicate with patients and carers using a variety of communication strategies and tools to ensure information is understood and treatment is progressed. This will include patients and carers who have difficulties communicating and understanding.

To liaise with other team members, internal and external agencies.

To identify the need for and refer to internal and external agencies using appropriate referral system.

To record interventions accurately and timely using team/trust documentation, complying with Therapy guidelines and legislative requirements.

To complete activity data using team/trust documentation and outcome measures.

To be able to work in a stressful environment.

To be able to deal effectively with emotional and/or aggressive patients/ carers.

To participate in ward rounds, case conferences and meetings as required.

To collect, respond to and feedback relevant information to the senior therapist.

To promote Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy as a treatment medium to others.

To lead and participate in departmental/service developments, projects audit and reviews.

To carry out designated ordering and maintenance of stock, equipment and resources.