Specialist Community Children's Physiotherapist

Job overview

Do you want to develop your physiotherapy career within paediatrics?

We are looking for an experienced, enthusiastic, self-motivated member of staff to help provide a high-quality, comprehensive and proactive clinical physiotherapy service for children and young people (0 to 19 years of age) referred to our specialist children's physiotherapy service within the community setting. If you are a qualified Physiotherapist keen to develop your clinical skills working with children with relevant community and/ or paediatric experience, we would be pleased to hear from you.

We are based at Kaleidoscope, a purpose-built Children and Young People's Centre, in Catford and provide physiotherapy for children and young people in the diverse population of the London borough of Lewisham with neurodevelopmental conditions.

The successful candidate will be motivated, organised and committed to working within a team environment.

An extended DBS check and fulfilment of the physical requirement of the post are detailed in the person specification. A clean driving license is desirable, however the borough has good transport links.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will work within mainstream and special schools, provide early intervention to identified client groups under five and assess and treat school-age children. They will take an active part in leading physiotherapy groups for children, deliver aquatic therapy and supervise students on clinical placement. The post holder will hold a varied caseload and be able to develop their skills in postural management, neurodevelopmental interventions, specialist equipment and orthotics, rotating within areas within the service.

Within Lewisham there is a strong multidisciplinary/ multiagency approach to working with children and young people, the post holder will support this and will be involved in promoting it for individual families.

We have a physiotherapy team of 12 members of staff and offer peer support, with a strong commitment to continuing professional development. The post holder will be supported by dedicated and experienced band 7 Physiotherapists.  They will have opportunities to develop clinical and organisational skills in a variety of settings and to work with children of all ages from 0-19 years.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Job Summary:

• Accountable to Manager for Children’s therapy and integration via the children’s physiotherapy team leads.

• To contribute to service development including clinical governance and audit, junior staff supervision and multidisciplinary and multiagency working.

• To provide a high standard of neurological and neurodevelopmental Physiotherapy assessment, treatment and advice to children, young people and carers in the community setting within Lewisham healthcare; liaising with other professionals to maximise the benefits.

Key Result Areas:

• To manage a caseload of children aged 0-19 providing a high standard of physiotherapy assessment, management, treatment and advice. The caseload consists of children with a wide range of neurological related difficulties and/or disabilities, many of whom may have complex or multiple pathology. Seen across a variety of locations within the community including Kaleidoscope, patients’ homes, community leisure facilities, nurseries and schools
• To be involved in supervising junior staff and students
• To be a source of clinical knowledge and advice on physiotherapy patient care for parents and carers, other health professionals within the multidisciplinary team and professionals working in external agencies.
• To maintain accurate statistics as directed by the team leads

Performance:

• To use well developed assessment and clinical reasoning skills in order to establish an accurate diagnosis, problem list, and prognosis in order to formulate individual and agreed care / treatment plans for a range for children and young people.
• To be responsible for reassessing patient care as treatment progresses and change treatment programmes as appropriate. To use aquatic therapy, neurodevelopmental therapy, casting and Orthotic management, use of Moving and Handling techniques and equipment, use of postural management equipment, goniometry amongst other  techniques when appropriate.
• To provide moving and handling risk assessments, supported by senior staff where necessary, related to the child’s physiotherapy programme in accordance with professional guidelines and government legislation.
• To be skilled in communicating and negotiating with families and children of all ages who have a range of physical disabilities and may have associated barriers to understanding, such as learning difficulties, hearing and visual impairments and language.
• To be able to diffuse potentially difficult situations with staff, patients and relatives, using well developed negotiation and interpersonal skills.
• To be able to motivate, negotiate and communicate with children of all ages and abilities in order to effectively carry out physiotherapy assessment and treatment programmes. To motivate and persuade others including staff and parents using verbal and nonverbal communication skills and written information where needed.
• To utilise other team members, in particular clinical supervisor and other senior staff, as needed to support decision making and clinical practice in particularly complex cases.
• To maintain an up to date knowledge of specialist postural equipment, aids, adaptations and resources available to enable the child with disability to function as independently as possible.
• To assess children for specialist equipment and recommend its purchase from health, education and social services.  To set up and adjust specialist equipment specifically for individual children.  To train parents / carers and other agencies in the use of the equipment.
• To be responsible for maintaining accurate and up to date individual patient records.  To provide timely and accurate written reports and physiotherapy programmes for parents / carers, other health professionals, education and social services professionals, voluntary sector workers and solicitors as required.
• To ensure smooth organisation, to delegate and supervise established services e.g. specialist clinics, postural assessment clinic/ Cerebral Palsy Integrated Pathway patient groups in education settings for all ages, aquatic therapy, orthotics, gym group, developmental co-ordination clinic/group (DCD),PE and individual treatment.