Senior Hand Therapist - Maternity Cover

Job overview

Are you a skilled and motivated Hand Therapist looking to take your career to the next level? We have an exciting opportunity to join our friendly and well-established Hand Therapy team at Northampton General Hospital, part of the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire Group.

This post is a 12 Month, part-time fixed term maternity cover, providing a great opportunity to consolidate and develop experience in a specialist Hand Therapy Department.

This is a varied and rewarding role in which you'll manage your own complex caseload, working across trauma and orthopaedics and plastic surgery. You'll apply advanced clinical reasoning, design and fabricate splints, and make a real difference to patients navigating some of the most challenging moments of their lives.

Beyond direct patient care, you'll play an active part in shaping the service — contributing to audit, clinical pathway development and in-service training. You'll also have the opportunity to mentor junior staff and support students on practice placement, helping to develop the next generation of hand therapists.

We're looking for a qualified Occupational Therapist or Physiotherapist with HCPC registration and solid experience in Hand Therapy at Band 5 or above. You'll need a strong working knowledge of upper limb anatomy and conditions,  ideally have experience of splinting across a range of presentations, and the confidence to manage a busy and diverse caseload.

Main duties of the job

Responsible for the assessment, planning and implementation of Hand Therapy interventions for patients on own caseload, alongside senior Hand Therapy colleagues.

Actively contribute to the day-to-day operation and ongoing development of the Hand Therapy Service, working in close conjunction with the Hand Therapy Team leader, Hand Therapy colleagues and Therapy Service managers.

Provide clinical supervision to junior Hand Therapy staff and Hand Therapy Clinical Support staff as required.

Contribute to the fieldwork education of students on practice placement within the Hand Therapy and Therapies service.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Corporate Responsibilities

• Build safe working knowledge of all equipment used to provide safe patient care and participate in maintenance and training.

Supporting Clinical and Patient Excellence

• Select and apply assessments and interventions for patients on own caseload, including the management of complex cases.
• Use clinical reasoning to balance risk, safety, patient choice and eligibility for services.
• Manage own clinical caseload from the point of referral through to discharge from the Hand Therapy service.
• Demonstrate and apply a broad level of understanding of illness, injury and disability and the complex interaction between health, functional ability, psychological and social issues, as appropriate to Hand Therapy.
• Select, design and fabricate splints appropriately to meet the required clinical outcomes, including the fabrication of dynamic splints.
• Communicate effectively with patients, carers, members of the clinical team, Hand Therapy/Occupational Therapy colleagues and other agencies.
• Provide support to patients, sharing information to enable them to make informed decisions regarding their Hand Therapy treatment.
• Advise patients and carers, teaching and demonstrating the safe use of splints and other treatment modalities to optimise patient outcome.
• Liaise with healthcare professionals and other related statutory, private and voluntary organisations, providing verbal and written reports where appropriate.
• Respect the individuality, values, cultural and religious diversity of patients and contribute to the provision of a service sensitive to these needs.
• Demonstrate basic leadership skills through the management of designated projects.
• Participate in planning, evaluation and audit of practice, clinical pathways, protocols and procedures within Hand Therapy, in conjunction with the Hand Therapy Team Leader and senior Hand Therapy colleagues.
• Propose changes to processes and procedures carried out within the Hand Therapy Service to improve effectiveness and efficiency.
• Demonstrate understanding and application of local and national guidelines and legislation relating to healthcare provision within Hand Therapy and provide guidance to junior Hand Therapy staff as appropriate.
• Exercise good personal time management, punctuality and consistent reliable attendance, submitting accurate daily records of attendance on electronic timesheets.
• Notify the Hand Therapy Team Leader of sick leave as soon as possible in line with Trust policy.
• In the absence of Hand Therapy colleagues through planned or unplanned leave, work flexibly to meet the prioritised needs of the Hand Therapy service, assisting senior Hand Therapy colleagues in co-ordinating cover when required.
• Comply with departmental guidelines for the safe use, care and maintenance of equipment and stock.
• Delegate work tasks appropriately to junior Hand Therapists, Hand Therapy Technical Instructors and Administrative Support staff.
• Undertake supervision and contribute to the appraisal process of junior Hand Therapy staff, Hand Therapy Clinical Support staff and Administrative Support staff where required.
• Provide/contribute to regular supervision and formal assessment of Occupational Therapy / Physiotherapy students on fieldwork practice placements within the Hand Therapy/ Therapies service.
• In conjunction with the Hand Therapy Team Leader and senior Hand Therapy colleagues, initiate, plan and implement the induction, training and education of other staff and students within the Hand Therapy service.
• Develop and utilise specialist skills as required for specific clinical conditions within Hand Therapy.
• Apply increasingly complex knowledge and skills in order to ensure fitness to practice as an Occupational Therapist / Physiotherapist within the Hand Therapy service, in line with competencies detailed in the Knowledge & Skills Framework Outline for this post.
• Participate in the Hand Therapy in-service training programme, taking the lead in designated sessions as appropriate.
• Demonstrate ongoing personal development through identification of learning needs, and participation in formal/informal internal and external learning opportunities, contributing to the production of a Personal Development Plan.
• Build an ongoing Continuing Professional Development portfolio, reflecting on and recording learning outcomes of development opportunities.
• Demonstrate the ability to critically evaluate current Hand Therapy research and apply this to practice in conjunction with the Hand Therapy team.
• Broaden research and development skills through participation in Hand Therapy service audit and research projects as appropriate.
• Communicate effectively as a representative of the Hand Therapy/Therapies service at meetings and forums as delegated by the Head of Therapies or their Deputy.

People / Management Excellence

• Reflect on ethical issues which impact on Hand Therapy service provision and provide guidance to junior Hand Therapy staff as required.
• Review and reflect on own practice and actively participate in regular supervision and annual appraisal.
• Coordinate the day-to-day activities of junior Hand Therapists, Hand Therapy

Clinical Support staff and administrative support staff in conjunction with the Hand Therapy Team Leader and senior Hand Therapy colleagues

Supporting Financial Excellence

To make best use of NHS resources

Professional Responsibilities, Quality Assurance and Monitoring

• Comply with the College of Occupational Therapists / Chartered Society of Physiotherapists Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct, and the Health and Care Professions Council Standards of Conduct, Performance & Ethics, national and Trust policy, protocols and guidelines.
• Complete all work necessary to maintain registration and encourage others to do so
• Monitor own and others’ quality and standard of practice by appraisal and review
• Maintain and monitor standards on health and safety, consent, note keeping, clinical governance, continuous professional development on both a personal, professional and departmental level
• To supervise and teach students on placement

Policy and Service Development, Research and Development Responsibilities

• To use information such as Clinical governance, NICE, and other clinical specific guidelines and evidence of best practice to assist in producing working guidelines, competencies and objectives to develop the service