Physiotherapist- Acute Medical Unit, Band 6

Job description

Job responsibilities

Improving quality and developing practice

To work as a senior practitioner in the clinical area utilising theoretical knowledge, clinical experience and clinical reasoning skills and techniques to assess, diagnose, plan and offer a range of treatment options; deliver, evaluate and amend the treatment plan. This will include patients with diverse or complex presentations/multi-pathologies in individual or group therapy sessions. Working as an autonomous practitioner with access to guidance from the clinical lead therapist when necessary, including working as a lone practitioner in the community.

To maintain clear, accurate and concise patient records in line with departmental and professional standards and include relevant outcome measures. This will include writing patient reports for e.g. medical practitioners and solicitors requests.

To support audit and research projects, to further own and teams clinical practice. To be involved in making recommendations for changes to practice and procedures for the relevant clinical area, and the implementation of these changes.

To contribute to the Clinical Governance and Quality agenda by active participation in service initiatives, health and safety and risk management.

To participate in the out of hours service at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital and/or Cheltenham General Hospital after appropriate induction and training as required. (When performing on call duties, staff must be available on the ward within 45 minutes of the call. For staff living more than 45 minutes from the hospital, a designated on-call room for overnight stay is available in GRH and is free of charge. This room can be used by staff at both sites.)

To comply with Trust and Departmental policies and procedures e.g. Health and Safety at Work Act (1974), Manual Handling, clinical equipment competency, risk management, Data Protection Acts and patient confidentiality at all times. This will include demonstrating compliance with the terms of all safeguarding policies and processes relevant to the safeguarding of adults and children in the care of GHNHSFT and to undergo regular mandatory training concerned with safeguarding matters.

Leadership and management

1. To be responsible for the organisation of own caseload and appropriately delegate to junior therapists and support workers. To ensure the team is effective in the day to day running of the clinical area.

2. To communicate with the multi disciplinary team (MDT) to aid effective patient care, which will include taking an active role in team meetings, joint treatment sessions, case conferences and specialist interest group meetings. Either working alone or as part of the multi-disciplinary team, to make recommendations for appropriate and timely discharge/transfer from hospital

Education and training

1. To consolidate and learn new skills and competencies to provide holistic care using the Therapy Competency Framework. To develop clinical reasoning and treatment techniques through the active participation in training and development. To consolidate knowledge and skills learned through this process with the direction of senior staff, and deliver research based presentations as part of in-service training. This will involve facilitating own learning opportunities, reflecting on practice and learning through this process

2. To participate in the supervision, caseload monitoring and clinical education of junior therapists, support workers and undergraduate students. Providing support, guidance, training, and assessing and evaluating competence, in order to fulfil clinical governance requirements and retain a skilled workforce. To participate in the undergraduate education process, as a clinical educator for undergraduates from the University of the Gloucestershire or other universities. This involves the assessment of students competency to practice and contributes to their BSc honours award in the defined profession.

Most Challenging Part of the Job:

Dealing with an unpredictable workload and ensuring priorities are met especially during times of staff shortages

Balancing the day to day clinical work with the non-clinical responsibilities of the post.

Managing stressful, upsetting or emotional situations in an empathetic manner including managing own stress and developing resilience

Taking responsibility for the supervision and appraisal of undergraduates, support workers and less experienced staff

Working within a changing national and local context and adapting to meet these demands

Physical Effort and Working Conditions:

Frequent daily manual handling of patients both with and without equipment; with a range of weights and disabilities

Frequent daily manual handling of equipment; range of weights, sizes & shapes, and over varying distances

Frequently working in awkward positions involving bending, kneeling, reaching, crawling as a part of patient treatment

Often working in confined/cramped spaces eg. space around beds on wards, or in patients own homes

Frequent exposure to contagious conditions and bodily fluids

Occasionally experiencing distress when treating terminally ill patients or patients with chronic degenerative diseases

Occasional management of patients who may become aggressive.

Frequently working under pressure with heavy caseloads and time/staffing level constraints

Frequent repeated concentration for sustained periods e.g. assessment, analysis and problem solving etc

Frequent use of VDU equipment

Constant interruption from other members of staff, medical professionals, including carrying a bleep, or mobile phone

This job description may be amended by management through consultation with the postholder in order to reflect changes in, or to, the job.

Person Specification

Qualifications, Knowledge and Experience

Essential

• Registered with the Health & Care Professions Council
• Degree/diploma in Physiotherapy
• Experience of working in the NHS in the UK
• Experience of supervising, appraising, and providing education/training to others
• Deliver a high level of skill in assessment and management of complex patients.
• Demonstrate the ability to network with other professionals and set up close working relations
• Work and maintain judgement under pressure whilst effectively managing own and others' time.

Desirable

• Work flexibly in response to the changing demands of the service and manage changes in service delivery in self and others.
• Knowledge of and ability to apply and utilise evidence based practice, including National guidelines to deliver, evaluate and audit the service.
• Have an understanding of the principles of physiotherapy as well as occupational therapy in order to contribute to the development of an integrated therapy service.

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.

UK Registration

Applicants must have current UK professional registration. For further information please see NHS Careers website (opens in a new window).

Employer details

Employer name

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

Address

Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Trust

Gloucester

GL1 3NN

Employer's website

https://www.gloshospitals.nhs.uk/ (Opens in a new tab)