Wheelchair Services Clinical Lead OT/PT

This small but busy service has a newly formed, friendly team comprising of one B7 Occupational Therapist and one B6 Physiotherapist plus a Senior Administrator. We are looking for a part-time Team Lead to complete the team. The service is based in a modern, comfortable NHS building, with excellent clinic facilities and close to other NHS teams.

The Team Lead will be supported by our Regional Therapist and will form part of our national Clinical Lead Group, who have a weekly meeting for information sharing and peer support. The service is led by the Head of Clinical Services who is a member of the Board and ensures that Ross Care services are clinically led and operate to the highest standards of clinical practice and safety.

Main duties of the job:

• This role will provide leadership to the team, developing new staff and developing the service itself.
• This exciting role offers opportunities to build contact with other services, develop service user engagement, and engage with other Ross Care managers, from both clinical and operational service and repair teams.
• The Regional Therapist will provide close support, and there will be regular meetings with the Head of Clinical Services.
• This role is an ideal combination of a small complex caseload and management duties.
• The post offers an opportunity to utilise existing management experience and build new skills, and experience of previous wheelchair provision is essential.

About Us:

Ross Care provide clinically led, high-quality wheelchair services on behalf of the NHS. Our friendly teams include OTs, Physiotherapists and Rehabilitation Engineers, providing services for all age ranges. We operate across 40 regions in England and Wales, supporting over 400,000 wheelchair users each year and covering 45% of the population. We take great pride in the role we play in making a real difference in the lives of those who matter most - our patients and their families.

Culture and Values:

Ross Care are a values-led organisation where people come first and whilst demand can often be high, our commitment to delivering high-quality care never wavers. We foster an environment where every team member is included, supported and empowered to contribute ideas and shape how we deliver services.

Career Development and Support:

We provide a mature career pathway designed to help you grow with us and clinical supervision and CPD opportunities are embedded at all levels. We offer opportunity, structure, encouragement and excellent line management support. We offer a wide range of learning opportunities, including apprenticeships and training programmes. Many of our team members progress into new roles within the organisation, thanks to our strong grow your own culture.

Our Commitment to Sustainability:

We take our environmental responsibilities seriously - tracking our carbon footprint, setting measurable targets, and continuously seeking new ways to reduce environmental impact.

Job responsibilities:

To provide clinical leadership and expertise to the wheelchair service clinical team and other wheelchair service team members, from a background of Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy. The post holder will be required to run clinics in Wigan Wheelchair Services and provide clinical leadership in both sites.

Person Specification:

Knowledge and Skills

• Demonstrate strategies for organising own workload.
• Demonstrate a flexible and adaptable approach to working in order to meet competing priorities.
• Demonstrate strategies for managing waiting lists.
• Confident in the use of IT with strong skills in Microsoft Office.
• Good communication skills, both written and verbal; positive interpersonal skills with an ability to communicate appropriately with colleagues, other professionals, carers and service users.
• Ability to communicate sensitive information in written and verbal forms to service users, other professionals and in-house staff.
• Knowledge of a wide range of medical conditions (e.g. respiratory, neuro, orthopaedic), their management and implications for wheelchair prescription or other intervention.
• Effective strategies to cope with a variety of distressing situations, including challenging behaviour from service users, other stakeholders and staff.
• Ability to work under pressure.
• Demonstrate understanding of risk assessment and management in all aspects of the work environment and service provision.
• Demonstrate an understanding of safeguarding, including how to identify potential safeguarding situations, how to report them internally and ensure action within the MDT.
• Knowledge of legal issues (e.g. data protection, child protection, health and safety, vulnerable adults, human rights etc).
• Demonstrate an understanding of health and safety responsibilities and compliance.
• Demonstrate an understanding of clinical governance requirements.
• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of moving and handling techniques and procedures.
• Understanding of information governance and data protection issues.

Qualifications

• BSc or Diploma in Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy.
• State registration with the HCPC.
• DBS Clearance.

Experience

• Minimum of 5 years post-registration experience working with patients who have long-term or complex medical conditions.
• Previous experience of wheelchair provision.
• Experience of team leadership, management and positive role modelling.
• Experience of managing and supervising junior staff.
• Experience of managing a budget.

Additional

• Full driving licence and a willingness to drive Ross Care/own vehicles.
• An ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions, such as weather, exposure to unpleasant environments, bodily fluids, pets and other unspecified hazards.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act (Exceptions Order) 1975 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service (formerly known as CRB) to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Applicants must have current UK professional registration.