Neonatal Clinical Specialist Occupational Therapist or Physiotherapist

Job overview

We are looking for a neonatal therapist (a physiotherapist or occupational therapist) to join the team in our Level 3 Neonatal Care Unit to cover a 1 year fixed term post to cover maternity leave.

We are a friendly, dynamic and supportive unit where the successful candidate will have the privilege of providing highly specialist care for premature and sick babies from the Kent, Surrey and Sussex Network as well as supporting their families and the MDT with advice and management support.

The post holder will provide specialist assessments, early intervention, family integrated care to support babies and their families on the unit as part of a wider MDT approach.

Flexible and part time requests will be considered.

Please contact Gemma Frisby, Clinical Lead for Children’s and Neonatal Physiotherapy and Occupational Therapy if you have any questions via email [email protected]

Main duties of the job

To achieve and maintain a high standard of clinical care using evidence based practice; keeping up to date with clinical developments; analysing current research; supporting change in clinical practice.

To support audits and projects developed within the services, NHS initiatives and the Neonatal Working Groups.

To supervise junior staff and students when appropriate

To provide specialist assessment and early intervention for sensory, motor, attention, regulation and play development to support the infant to reach their development potential

To support the parent-infant relationship, helping parents to understand and respond to behavioural cues and signs of stress, helping infants to regulate their body systems.

To be responsible for supporting the infants and their families in participating in developmentally appropriate and meaningful co-occupations, using an individualised approach to assessment and intervention.

To support timely discharge and provide anticipatory guidance to ease transition to home. Teaching and training alongside the AHP team to the wider unit forms part of this post. They will support developmental MDT clinics and support the paediatric wards and colleagues when needed.

Please read the job description and personal specification for a details list

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

In addition to the below summary, you need to familiarise yourself with the full job description document attached to the advert

To be responsible as an autonomous practitioner to undertake a significant specialist clinical caseload and use excellent clinical reasoning to utilise a wide range of treatment options and skills to formulate a specialised programme of care including onwards referrals

To be able to manage potentially stressful and upsetting or emotional situations in an empathetic manner.

To supervise junior, senior staff, therapy assistants, students and apprentices where appropriate

To communicate effectively with all disciplines involved in a patient’s care, both those from within the organisation and those outside to ensure efficient multidisciplinary working.

To carry a designated clinical caseload including highly complex and diverse patient groups and prioritise that work efficiently, taking into account clinical and service priorities using specialist knowledge to underpin decisions.

Apply an enhanced level of understanding of the effect of preterm birth, perinatal problems and congenital disabilities on the development of infants and make appropriate recommendations for intervention and support.

Support discharge planning and transitions to paediatric, outpatient and community services for caseload, providing relevant information to unit discharge team and internal paediatric and community teams.

Taking the lead role in MDT ward rounds in turn with other members of the team promoting Family Integrated and Developmental Care principles to facilitate parental involvement.

To be responsible for setting and monitoring of standards, policies and evidence based guidelines for clinical practice for the neonatal occupational therapy service and evaluate outcomes.

To be able to manage potentially stressful and upsetting or emotional situations in an empathetic manner.

To communicate effectively with all disciplines involved in a patient’s care, both those from within the organisation and those outside to ensure efficient multidisciplinary working.