Bank Therapy Assistant Band 3

Job overview

This is an exciting time to be working at the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust, one of the biggest NHS Trusts in the UK, delivering care to more than 1.6 million people a year through our three main hospitals: Barnet, Chase Farm and Royal Free.

In therapy services we have received funding to recruit new members of staff across all the therapy disciplines including therapy assistants to work with the physiotherapists, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists and dietitians in our inpatient teams.

We are looking for enthusiastic and dynamic people to join our team who have experience of working with people in a hospital setting. Our therapy assistants work in multi-disciplinary teams across the hospital such as:

• Health Services for Elderly People
• Orthopaedics
• Respiratory and Cardiology
• Acute and community neurosciences
• Amputees and vascular patients

The successful candidate is required to demonstrate the Trust values, shared commitments and meet the criteria for the responsibilities of the job description and person specification.

If you believe you meet the criteria of the person specification and would like to join the Royal Free at this time, we would be interested in receiving your application.

**VISA SPONSORSHIP DOES NOT APPLY TO THIS ROLE**

Main duties of the job

To assist qualified Therapists in the delivery of the service to the patients within the designated clinical area.

1.To provide goal directed clinical intervention to patients who have been previously assessed by any of the following: Physiotherapist; Occupational Therapist: Speech and Language Therapist; Podiatrist or Dietician.

2.To progress treatment without the direct supervision of a therapist but under the direction of the relevant qualified therapists.

3.To record and report back the treatment provided and the patient’s response to treatment in the relevant records in line with national and local standards.

4.To undertake routine maintenance checks of clinical areas and equipment within designated clinical areas.

5.To carry out administrative and clerical duties for the therapy team.

6.To participate in weekend duties.

For further information please refer to the attached JD and PS.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

CLINICAL RESPONSIBILITIES

1.To provide a high standard of clinical assistance to any member of the therapy team and participate actively in a variety of joint sessions with the patient.

2.To be involved in multi-disciplinary working including handover, meetings, goal-setting and multi-disciplinary team meetings as appropriate.

3.To be responsible for coordinating a specific area of therapy for patients within the relevant team under the guidance of the qualified therapy staff. The post holder may be required to work as a lone therapy practitioner at times.

4.To be responsible for independent assessment and intervention planning for a defined group of patients under the indirect supervision of the therapy team leader within the team. This skill is underpinned by knowledge of the specified care pathway for these patients following structured training and competency development.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR PATIENTS

1.To ensure that written and electronic patient records are updated as required and statistical activity data records are maintained in accordance with professional, departmental and Trust standards.

2.To communicate routine information effectively and appropriately to patients, relatives and carers in order to maximise potential.

3.To use skills of negotiation, motivation and explanation to encourage patients to undertake their treatment programmes which may be painful, challenging and/or time consuming.

4.To be responsible for providing proficient communication with patients and others in challenging situations, which may include dealing with:

a)Patients with complex needs, e.g. patients with communication difficulties.

b)Patients from different cultural/ethnic backgrounds where English is - not the primary language.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR POLICY AND SERVICE DEVELOPMENT

• To manage own patient workload each day.

2.To ensure that own documentation and patient records are recorded and adequately stored in line with Trust and national guidelines.

3.To collect statistics as per service requirement.

4.Assists with clerical duties and other tasks as requested, which promotes the smooth running of the service. This may involve telephone use, correspondence and the accurate documentation of these activities.

Applicant requirements

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.