Lincolnshire Community Health Service NHS Trust

D2A Band 5 Lead Assistant Practitioner

The closing date is 16 September 2025

Job summary

With an ageing population and pressures on Acute and Community Health and Social Care, enabling people to stay at home and live as independently as possible is the great healthcare challenge of our time.

The Discharge 2 Assess Pathway 1 Service was created to ensure any person in a Lincolnshire hospital who is able to return straight home from hospital does so. The service provides short-term Assessment, Recovery, and Rehabilitation support, working collaboratively with Lincolnshire County Councils commissioned reablement provider with the goal of moving people to being as independent as possible. This will aim to enable people to return to their own home sooner from a hospital stay.

Recruiting to x2 sectors within the service, Spalding/Bourne and Gainsborough/Louth. Joining our existing x4 Lead Assistant Practitioners within the service.

This service will follow the 'Discharge to Assess' (D2A) principles where a person is assessed for their long term needs in their own home or place of residence.

This service covers the whole county although people will generally work within a more locally based teams. This means that roles are available across Lincolnshire. The hours of the service are set to be 0800 to 2000, 7 days a week. We are able to consider part time working.

Main duties of the job

The postholder will be leading a team of Band 4, 3 and 2 colleagues and supporting their clinical decision making, ensure all patient visits are arranged and booked, building strong links and communicating with stakeholders.The postholder will be responsible for looking at referrals received from both acute and community teams, assessing their appropriateness for the service. The postholder will require therapy experience to ensure there is a rehabilitation need.There will be a need to be able to identify any possible equipment and moving and handling needs not identified by referrer to ensure the discharge is as successful as possible.Additionally, there may be the need to complete clinicalduties face to face with patients, to include completing initialassessments, personal care calls and rehab visits.

About us

Lincolnshire Community Health Services NHS Trust is in the top 25 per cent of all community trusts for overall staff engagement in the 2021 NHS National Staff Survey.

At LCHS, we know diversity fosters creativity and innovation. We are committed to equality of opportunity, to being fair and inclusive, and to being a place where all belong. We therefore particularly encourage applications from candidates who are likely to be underrepresented in LCHS' workforce.

LCHS recognises the increasing demand for more flexibility in working practices in order to accommodate the personal goals and commitments that employees experience at different stages during their working lives. Flexible working opportunities such as part-time working, compressed hours, job shares, and hybrid working models can help staff to balance their personal and work commitments. Arrangements can be put in place if it can be shown that the needs of the individual can be balanced with those of the service and the impact on other team members, enabling the Trust to recruit and retain skilled staff, raise staff morale, reduce absenteeism and respond to changing service needs more effectively.

We are an ambassador of a learning culture that will support the right individual to progress in their chosen career through an 'earn while you learn' apprenticeship programme. Visit our Learning and Development page to find out more https://www.lincolnshirecommunityhealthservices.nhs.uk/join-us/learning-and-dev

Details

Date posted

02 September 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£31,049 to £37,796 a year per annum, pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working

Reference number

818-IUC314-QIA699-A-A

Job locations

Recruiting to x2 sectors- Spalding/Bourne and Gainsborough/Louth

LCHS bases as per locations above

LN5 7JH


Job description

Job responsibilities

To work effectively as part of a team to lead andsupervise a group of Assistant Practitioners andSupport Workers who are completing discharge toassess support calls with patients who have recentlyreturned home To support both acute and community hospitals withdischarge planning for individuals to promote patientflow To ensure all support calls are allocated and all patientneeds are met Develop and maintain stakeholder relationships toensure consistency of care for patients going throughthe service To work with registered therapists regarding patientcare and take on case management duties to ensurepatients care needs are being met and addressed in atimely manner Review and monitor plans with individuals and theirsupport networks, making appropriate adjustments asnecessary To maintain clinical records on individuals usingelectronic patient record system Support with reporting and audits within the service asrequired To support the service in co-ordinating projectdevelopment to improve patient flow

Job description

Job responsibilities

To work effectively as part of a team to lead andsupervise a group of Assistant Practitioners andSupport Workers who are completing discharge toassess support calls with patients who have recentlyreturned home To support both acute and community hospitals withdischarge planning for individuals to promote patientflow To ensure all support calls are allocated and all patientneeds are met Develop and maintain stakeholder relationships toensure consistency of care for patients going throughthe service To work with registered therapists regarding patientcare and take on case management duties to ensurepatients care needs are being met and addressed in atimely manner Review and monitor plans with individuals and theirsupport networks, making appropriate adjustments asnecessary To maintain clinical records on individuals usingelectronic patient record system Support with reporting and audits within the service asrequired To support the service in co-ordinating projectdevelopment to improve patient flow

Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Level 4 or above qualification in relevant subject such as a Diploma, Higher National Certificate or a vocational qualification
  • Grade A-C GCSE English and Maths or equivalent (ie functional skills)
  • Higher level knowledge of IT systems - ie Microsoft Office, Word, Outlook, Powerpoint, Excel
  • Training in areas relevant to setting, such as dementia care, rehabilitation

Desirable

  • Care certificate

Skills/Competencies

Essential

  • Workload & time management skills/capabilities
  • Effective communication
  • High level of problem solving skills
  • Analytical and evaluation skills

Desirable

  • Experience supervising others
  • Ability to deal with non-routine and unpredictable workload

Knowledge

Essential

  • Intermediate level of theoretical knowledge
  • Knowledge of different health professionals and their boundaries
  • Knowledge of discharge planning both in relationship to therapy and holistically
  • Ability to motivate and engage self and others
  • Knowledge of discharge planning and / or therapy experience
  • Ability to establish rapport and engage different services and multidisciplinary colleagues

Desirable

  • Knowledge of external agencies
  • Understands Discharge to Assess principles

Experience

Essential

  • Experience working as an Assistant Practitioner or AHP support worker
  • Experience of working with Adults in a Health and Social Care setting
  • Experience as an autonomous worker
  • Experience delivering rehabilitation

Desirable

  • Experience working in the community
  • Experience working with external stakeholders

Special attributes

Essential

  • Able to develop professional leadership qualities
  • Ability to motivate and support peers and other professionals
  • Ability to travel
  • Flexible and motivated approach to work
Person Specification

Qualifications

Essential

  • Level 4 or above qualification in relevant subject such as a Diploma, Higher National Certificate or a vocational qualification
  • Grade A-C GCSE English and Maths or equivalent (ie functional skills)
  • Higher level knowledge of IT systems - ie Microsoft Office, Word, Outlook, Powerpoint, Excel
  • Training in areas relevant to setting, such as dementia care, rehabilitation

Desirable

  • Care certificate

Skills/Competencies

Essential

  • Workload & time management skills/capabilities
  • Effective communication
  • High level of problem solving skills
  • Analytical and evaluation skills

Desirable

  • Experience supervising others
  • Ability to deal with non-routine and unpredictable workload

Knowledge

Essential

  • Intermediate level of theoretical knowledge
  • Knowledge of different health professionals and their boundaries
  • Knowledge of discharge planning both in relationship to therapy and holistically
  • Ability to motivate and engage self and others
  • Knowledge of discharge planning and / or therapy experience
  • Ability to establish rapport and engage different services and multidisciplinary colleagues

Desirable

  • Knowledge of external agencies
  • Understands Discharge to Assess principles

Experience

Essential

  • Experience working as an Assistant Practitioner or AHP support worker
  • Experience of working with Adults in a Health and Social Care setting
  • Experience as an autonomous worker
  • Experience delivering rehabilitation

Desirable

  • Experience working in the community
  • Experience working with external stakeholders

Special attributes

Essential

  • Able to develop professional leadership qualities
  • Ability to motivate and support peers and other professionals
  • Ability to travel
  • Flexible and motivated approach to work

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).

Additional information

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).

Employer details

Employer name

Lincolnshire Community Health Service NHS Trust

Address

Recruiting to x2 sectors- Spalding/Bourne and Gainsborough/Louth

LCHS bases as per locations above

LN5 7JH


Employer's website

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

Employer details

Employer name

Lincolnshire Community Health Service NHS Trust

Address

Recruiting to x2 sectors- Spalding/Bourne and Gainsborough/Louth

LCHS bases as per locations above

LN5 7JH


Employer's website

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

Employer contact details

For questions about the job, contact:

Clinical Team Lead

Jacob Axtell

jacobaxtell@nhs.net

01522474895

Details

Date posted

02 September 2025

Pay scheme

Agenda for change

Band

Band 5

Salary

£31,049 to £37,796 a year per annum, pro rata

Contract

Permanent

Working pattern

Full-time, Part-time, Flexible working

Reference number

818-IUC314-QIA699-A-A

Job locations

Recruiting to x2 sectors- Spalding/Bourne and Gainsborough/Louth

LCHS bases as per locations above

LN5 7JH


Supporting documents

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