Macmillan Prehabilitation Specialist Physiotherapist

Job overview

We are looking for an experienced and dedicated Band 7 Physiotherapist to lead the development and delivery of our Macmillan Cancer Prehabilitation and Rehabilitation Programme.

The post is for 12 Months Fixed Term to cover maternity leave, working alongside an experienced team of Occupational Therapists, Dieticians, Assistant Practitioners and admin staff.

This is a meaningful role at the heart of personalised cancer care. Working across primary and secondary care settings, you will screen patients prior to cancer treatment, conduct holistic needs assessments, and develop tailored care plans that address physical, nutritional, and psychological wellbeing. You will work in line with the East Midlands Cancer Gold Standards Framework and play a key role in embedding prehabilitation into clinical pathways across the organisation.

You will manage a caseload of patients with complex needs, act as a specialist resource to multidisciplinary colleagues, and contribute to the ongoing evaluation and development of the programme.

The role is based at Northampton General Hospital and Kettering General Hospital, delivering care in clinics at both hospital sites, as well as at patient home addresses and community gyms, as required.

Main duties of the job

Responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of the dedicated Macmillan Cancer Prehab/rehab program

Screen patients prior to cancer treatment, providing specialist support and clinical assessment to optimise patients physical and emotional health through needs-based prescribing of exercise, nutrition, and psychological interventions as part of the personalised care and support agenda.

Offer targeted and specialist prehabilitation interventions for those with more complex needs in line with the East Midlands Gold Standards, referring to community services to maximise health and wellbeing, proactively identifying adjustments to maintain or enhance mobility and safety.

Develop robust mechanisms to evaluate the effectiveness of the Macmillan program including patient feedback

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Develop a dedicated cancer prehab/rehab program, across the organisation reflecting the East Midlands Gold Standard Framework and Macmillan Investment Application

Implement a phased approach for cancer prehab across Northamptonshire, building on the learning from the pilot projects and regional programmes.

Optimise cancer care for surgical tumour sites both before and after surgical intervention.

Develop a dedicated steering group to guide the development of the prehab/rehab programme across the organisation

To autonomously manage a caseload of patients with complex needs, using evidence based/patient centred principles to assess, plan, implement and evaluate interventions in primary and secondary care settings to include home visits and community facilities

Screen patients prior to cancer treatment for physical fitness, functional ability, nutritional status, and emotional wellbeing.

Undertake a Holistic Needs Assessments (HNA), working collaboratively with their relevant Key Worker to address both patient and carer needs.

Use a patient centred approach to understand the individual, what matters to them and what they want to achieve.

Generate a treatment plan to meet the patient’s individual needs. Stratifying into universal, targeted and specialist for each domain of intervention in line with the East Midlands Gold Standards Framework

Offer targeted and specialist prehab interventions for those with more complex needs in line with the East Midlands Gold Standards Framework, referring to community services to maximise health and wellbeing, proactively identifying adjustments to maintain or enhance mobility and safety.

Demonstrate effective communication skills when imparting complex information to patients/carers, other health care professionals and agencies

Identify possible locations for therapy assessment and interventions including equipment required to support functioning

Assess functional ability to ensure patients are participating in meaningful occupation, enhancing quality of life.

Empower patients to take control of their care in preparation for cancer treatment.

Provide opportunities for patients to improve their physical functioning and psychological wellbeing, improving resilience to the effects of cancer treatments.

Provide opportunities for patients to reflect on healthy lifestyles.