Advanced Physiotherapist

Job overview

An exciting opportunity has arisen for experienced therapists to join the St Helens 2-hour UCR, Community Therapy and Virtual Ward Therapy Team. This integrated multi-disciplinary and multi-agency team will provide specialist rapid assessment and interventions to our local population of St Helens.

Our progressive working environment manages ‘crisis’ on a daily basis, taking referrals from community, care homes and acute colleagues as well as self-referrals. Your clinical skillset will contribute to people being able to remain safely and supported in their own homes wherever possible and preventing unnecessary A&E attendances.

Our Crisis Response Service operates as a clinically led multi-disciplinary team comprising of Frailty Consultants, Advanced Clinical Practitioners, Occupational therapists, Physiotherapists, Nurses, Social Workers and support workers.

The service provides a 7 day, 8am-8pm, urgent and timely response to referrals. Following this, a rapid assessment and community intervention for up to 72 hours will support adults ‘in crisis’ with health or social care needs at home.

The JD & PS are currently under AfC review and are subject to change

Main duties of the job

You will be a champion of an integrated community care approach, a strong team player with experience of MDT working and an excellent communicator. You will be adaptable, committed, able to organise and prioritise work effectively and able to work well under pressure. You must be able to travel around various community locations delivering care. You must be motivated, enthusiastic and have proven experience of working as an autonomous practitioner. A commitment to improving the patient’s experience is essential.

The successful candidate should have a working knowledge and experience of community or acute services and be familiar with the patient pathways between hospital and home. You will be required to process referrals, manage a caseload independently and take responsibility for providing assessment and treatment of patients with a variety of medical conditions.

As a Trust, we are committed to continuing professional and personal development and will therefore provide support with regular supervision and training. We are keen to promote collaborative practice and to develop staff within a supportive and friendly environment. You will participate in delivering training to other staff to facilitate their development.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To work within Trust clinical guidelines, HCPC and Registrant Body guidelines and to have a working knowledge of national and local standards and monitor own and others quality of practise against these
• To work in secondary care in a variety of hospital settings and the patient’s own homes.
• To demonstrate as appropriate to role highly developed physical skills for assessment and treatment of patients eg dexterity, co-ordination, palpatory and other senses.
• To deputise for senior staff in leading specific team.

CLINICAL & PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES

• To communicate complex patient and service related information effectively to Health and Wellbeing and local authority colleagues and third sector agencies.
• Use complex communication skills and knowledge when working with patients, their families and other provider agencies.
• To involve the patient and the family/carers in all relevant discussions about their management and decisions that are made about treatment techniques and facilitating patient involvement in the planning, development, delivery and evaluation of the service.
• To assess capacity, gain valid informed consent and have the ability to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.
• Delivering high level and complex triage, clinical assessment, diagnostics, treatment and evaluation of the needs within the trust.
• Providing leadership; promoting a learning culture for colleagues and other agencies; leading service innovations and demonstrating high level problem solving.
• Ensuring excellence in service delivery through personal and service development, underpinned by evidence based practice and research, embedded in the quality assurance agenda.
• Driving innovation; managing the change process to ensure your service continues to be flexible and proactive to reflect the needs of the trust.
• To triage patients with complex needs.
• To undertake complex clinical assessments of patients/ service users within sphere of advanced practice.
• To determine a clinical diagnosis and make high level decisions regarding appropriate treatment/ care plans.
• Implement complex care/ interventions according to clinical need.
• Evaluate complex care/ interventions based on evidence from clinical outcomes and best practice.
• To provide advanced clinical advice, support and training to patients/ service users, families, carers and professional colleagues to improve their journey and their health and wellbeing.
• To be professionally accountable for all aspects of own work including the management of patients in your care.
• Registered practitioners who are non-medical prescribers are accountable for their prescribing activities by ensuring they are aware of their Professional accountability and any restrictions or special considerations in their prescribing practice.
• To develop and maintain the high level clinical skills required to work as an advanced practitioner.