Physiotherapist

Job overview

The Physiotherapy Department can offer you a friendly and social atmosphere with a forward-thinking and progressive attitude to the changing face of the NHS. If you join our department, you will benefit from a well-established and robust appraisal scheme, in-service training, encouragement with CPD, excellent senior and peer support and preceptorship program. Clinical specialists enhance the clinical leadership within the department, encouraging evidence-based practice and research/audit. If you are interested in joining our team to progress or start your career, we would be happy to hear from you.

University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust is a large acute Trust and Major Trauma Centre, successful candidates will have the enviable opportunity to gain both basic Band 5 experience across all core areas as well as more specialist opportunities in the tertiary specialities that we host.  We offer rotations across a wide variety of specialities, such as cardiothoracics, respiratory, intensive care, acute stroke, stroke rehab, neurosurgery, critical care rehab, surgical, medical, care of elderly, orthopaedics, paediatrics, trauma, emergency care, out-patients and community.

Experience working in a healthcare setting, ideally within the NHS, is highly desirable and familiarity with NHS systems and processes is advantageous.

Main duties of the job

To perform a physiotherapeutic assessment of patients with diverse presentations and complex physical and psychological conditions; to provide a clinical diagnosis, develop and deliver an individualised treatment programme, under the supervision of a senior Physiotherapist.

To undertake all aspects of clinical duties as an autonomous practitioner and ensure competence is gained and retained in all areas in which you practice.

To hold responsibility for own caseload, working with supervision. Supervision takes the form of a more senior physiotherapist supervising the post holder (usually daily but at least weekly) by direct observation of practice, regular formal and informal training, clinical reasoning sessions, peer review and case conferences.

Access to advice and support from senior physiotherapists is always available; regular checks will be made to ensure workload is managed; clinical work and case notes are routinely evaluated.

***Preference will be given to internal Trust staff, as well as ‘Priority’ and 'At Risk' status including NHS At Risk staff throughout Devon who are able to display recent relevant experience as dictated by the Person Specification.***

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• 1.     To be professional and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of your work, including the management of patients in your care. To ensure a high standard of clinical care for the patients under your management and support more junior staff to do likewise. 2.     To be an active member of the respiratory evening and weekend rota and seven-day rota for acute services if required. 3.     When working on the weekend and respiratory on-call rota, to undertake the assessment and treatment of acutely ill patients with respiratory problems, who may have a complex presentation and maintain associated records as an autonomous practitioner. 4.     When working to provide advice to medical and nursing staff and other members of the multi-disciplinary team regarding patients functions/condition 5.     To interpret and analyse clinical and non-clinical facts to form accurate diagnosis and prognoses in a wide range of highly complex conditions, to recommend the best course of the intervention, and to develop comprehensive management plans. 6.     To represent the trust externally (locally, regionally and nationally) regarding physiotherapy services provided to the patients. 7.     To undertake the comprehensive assessment of patients, including those with a complex presentation, using investigative and analytical skills, and to formulate individualised management and treatment plans, using clinical reasoning, and utilising a wide range of treatment skills and options to formulate a specialised programme of care and to support junior staff in this work 8.     To accept clinical responsibility for a designated caseload of patients, and to organise this effectively and efficiently with regard to clinical priorities and use of time. 9.     To demonstrate highly developed dexterity, co-ordination and palpatory senses for assessment and manual treatment of patients. 10.  To participate in working parties developing policy changes within specialities, which will impact on all service users.

See the attached job description for the role, and (where applicable) you can download a copy of the full job description.