Assistant Practitioner (Therapy) - CambridgeNHS

Job summary

We have a unique opportunity for a physical health Therapy Assistant Practitioner to join Intermediate Care Service based in Cambridge. Working alongside our multidisciplinary team, the post holder will play a key role in ensuring that people recover on their discharge from hospital in their own homes or care homes, attaining their goals and progressing towards independence.

The expectation is that you will work autonomously as part of the team and under direction of the qualified therapists. Within the role we offer career development and educational opportunities to build a career within physical rehabilitation services.

We are looking for passionate, supportive, caring individuals, who will be expected to show initiative and be an active part of the team.

Main duties of the job

• To work autonomously under the direction of a registered practitioner within the Intermediate Care Team
• To be responsible for assessing, interpreting, planning and implementing therapy interventions for specific groups of patients
• To use clinical judgement to evaluate patient progress, including the recording of objective and subjective measurements
• To provide advice to patients and carers
• To keep the patient at the centre of care, ensuring patient and carer participation in decision making.
• To plan and prioritise own workload and to provide a high standard of care.
• To work in various community settings, this includes lone working.

Job description

Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for full details of responsibilities

Please note for this role you will be required to travel independently around the county meeting strict time deadlines. You will need to hold a full UK driving licence* and have use of a vehicle. You cannot use public transport for this role as this is not a reliable form of transport and will not allow you to meet service needs. Please confirm in your application that you meet the specified criteria.

• To assess for, plan and implement therapy interventions, such as exercise programmes (group or individual), provision of mobility aids, measuring and fitting adaptive equipment, minor and major adaptations
• To evaluate therapy interventions and prepare discharge summary for supervised patient discharge
• To identify when patients need interventions from other services and initiate timely onward referral as indicated
• To effectively communicate verbally with patients, carers and colleagues using tact and persuasive skills. This may involve using skills where patients have difficulties in communication eg. Hearing loss, diminished sight, depression, speech problems, cognitive impairment, behavioural problems and pain
• Establish and maintain appropriate working relationships with colleagues, patients, carers and other health care professionals
• Be responsible for ensuing equipment is used safely, following relevant training, and that it is maintained appropriately
• To assess patient understanding of treatment proposals, gain valid informed consent and to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment
• To attend relevant external and internal courses to extend knowledge or gain relevant skills to improve clinical practice as identified as part of the Appraisal process
• Will be occasionally be exposed to bodily fluids, infected material, blood products, therefore must utilise universal precautions and adhere to infection control policies
• To work effectively within the team structure and liaise appropriately with members of the MDT and other agencies by attending MDT meetings, case reviews
• To inform/update all members of the multi-disciplinary team, service users and appropriate others, of changes involving current care plans, patients progress and other relevant matters that pertain to the care of the patient
• To promote independence and wherever possible to avoid hospital admission and reduce inpatient length of stay to ensure those patients receive the appropriate care in the most appropriate setting.

*DVLA have a number ofreciprocalarrangements with overseas countries, for further information please visit the DVLA website

About us

Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust is a health and social care organisation dedicated to providing high quality care with compassion to improve the health and wellbeing of the people we care for, as well as supporting and empowering them to lead fulfilling lives.

Our clinical teams deliver a wide range of NHS services across inpatient, primary care and community settings, including children's, adult and older people's mental health, forensic and specialist mental health, learning disabilities, primary care and liaison psychiatry, substance misuse, social care, and research and development.

To achieve our goals, we recruit high calibre candidates who share our vision and values. As an equal opportunities' employer, we welcome applications from all sections of the community, particularly under represented groups including people with long term conditions and members of our ethnic minority and LGBTQ+ communities.

All appointments are subject to the successful completion of a probationary period.

Please note we reserve the right to close adverts early should we receive sufficient applications.

Regrettably, we cannot offer sponsorship for all roles. If you apply for a post that does not attract sponsorship, your application will be withdrawn from the process.

For further information on CPFT, please visit our website at https://www.cpft.nhs.uk