Band 7 Clinical Specialist Neurology Physiotherapist

Job overview

BAND 7 CLINICAL SPECIALIST NEUROLOGY PHYSIOTHERAPIST - ACUTE MEDICINE

Permanent | 31.8 hours per week

Come and join a forward-thinking, driven Acute Medicine Therapy Team that prioritises patient care and your professional and personal development.  We are seeking a positive, proactive clinician with leadership and specialist Neurology skills to help build a strong future for therapy.

You will manage a clinical caseload, providing advanced specialist assessment and intervention for patients in ringfenced Neurology beds and across medical wards.  You may also offer advice and guidance to therapists managing complex Neurology patients elsewhere in the hospital.  Additionally, you will support team members and students, contributing to their training and development.  You will play a key role in service development, ensuring alignment with national guidelines and up-to-date evidence-based Neurology practice.  We work closely with the wider multidisciplinary team to achieve the best patient outcomes.

We are an integrated department of occupational therapists, physiotherapists, dietitians and assistants, with strong links across the multidisciplinary team and community colleagues.  Core hours are 08:00-16:00 with flexibility available.  You will also contribute to the Acute Medicine Therapy Team seven-day roster.

A development Band 6-7 post would be considered for the right applicant.

Main duties of the job

You will manage a complex caseload of neurological patients, including traumatic brain injury, Guillain-Barré syndrome, functional neurological disorder, MND, MS, and Parkinson’s among others.  Alongside your caseload, you will support and train team members, requiring strong prioritisation, organisational and time management skills to balance clinical and non-clinical duties.

You will use advanced assessment skills to formulate, implement and evaluate individualised treatment and rehabilitation plans.  Advanced communication skills are essential to support a multidisciplinary approach and maintain effective dialogue with the team and wider colleagues.

As the sole Neurology specialist therapist, you will provide tailored training and support to develop the wider team’s Neurology skills.  Although primarily working with Neurology patients, you will also support caseloads across Acute Medicine wards when required.

You will undertake non-clinical duties including chairing meetings, contributing to in-service development, and training/supervising students, therapy assistant practitioners and Band 5 and 6 colleagues, including formal appraisal documentation.

You will be involved in measuring and evaluating practice through evidence-based projects, audit and outcome measures, enabling you to recommend and lead change within Neurology.  You may also ensure adequate staffing levels, absence management and staff wellbeing in the absence of a Team Leader.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• To lead advanced assessment and treatment of patients on Acute Medicine wards, primarily with neurological conditions, while supporting the wider team with multi-pathology, palliative care needs, osteoarthritis, cardiac conditions, frailty and bariatric patients, often with highly complex and/or chronic presentations and barriers to communication
• To use advanced clinical reasoning to determine diagnosis, treatment, onward referrals, and maintain records as an autonomous practitioner
• To plan, coordinate, deliver and evaluate the Acute Medicine Therapy Team service, prioritising and delegating appropriately
• To support Team Leaders in managing staff attendance in line with Trust policies, including completing return-to-work interviews
• To support staff wellbeing and signpost to relevant support networks
• To work closely with other James Paget University Hospital therapy teams to receive referrals and use patient information to prioritise workload
• To assist in developing team goals with Team Leaders, Professional Leads and the Integrated Therapies Clinical Lead, and support their achievement
• To provide highly specialist advice and teaching to the Acute Medicine Therapy Team and wider multidisciplinary team
• To keep up to date with research and developments, identify team learning needs and arrange training as required
• To be proactive in service and individual development within the team, implementing changes as appropriate
• To organise and lead clinical audits, monitor service quality, and delegate work as required
• To work a rostered seven-day service
• In the absence of a Team Leader, you will deputise and provide day-to-day team leadership

We offer:

• raining and development opportunities
• Protected CPD time
• Generous annual leave:  27 days on appointment, 29 days after five years’ service, and 33 days after 10 years’ service
• NHS pension scheme
• NHS discounts
• Salary Sacrifice car scheme
• Employee celebration - regular staff awards
• International peer support group and celebration events
• Neurodiversity support
• Health and Wellbeing Service, including counselling, physiotherapy, mental health, and menopause support etc.
• Career pathway development, supportive PDP to help you achieve your goals
• Social events
• Long service recognition
• Single accommodation on site for new staff
• Occupational therapy specific training in an integrated therapy department
• Recruitment support
• Excellent maternity package

Please see the attached Job Description for more details of the main duties and responsibilities of the role.

Please watch the following videos for an insight into our Integrated Therapies Department:

Landscape version:  https://youtu.be/tklpzav7UrU

Portrait version:  https://youtube.com/shorts/U4lwU9T1wKA?feature=share