Specialist Frailty Occupational Therapist/Physiotherapist in Huddersfield

Specialist Frailty Occupational Therapist/Physiotherapist

NHS AfC: Band 6

Main area Acute medicine- Frailty Grade NHS AfC: Band 6 Contract Permanent Hours Full time - 37.5 hours per week Job ref 372-MED2710

Employer Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust Employer type NHS Site Huddersfield Royal Infirmary Town Huddersfield Salary £39,959 - £48,117 per annum, pro rata Salary period Yearly Closing 23/09/2026 23:59 Interview date 09/10/2026

Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust (CHFT) are committed to equal opportunities and welcome applications from all sections of the community, regardless of any protected characteristics.

We are committed to recruiting to our values. Leading One Culture of Care underpins our values by creating an environment, tone and behaviours across all parts of the Trust that are fundamentally rooted in compassionate care.

We are open to considering a wide range of flexible working arrangements. There are opportunities to flex the days of the week, hours and times of work and place of work including: part-time, job-share, flexible working hours and the possibility to work from home when appropriate. Please talk to us during the interview process to discuss any flexibility that you may require.

We received our Silver Award from the Defence Employer Recognition Scheme which is helping actively promote SaBRE - Supporting Britain’s Reservists and Employers. This means that we provided its statement of intent to support all Defence personnel and we welcome application to work for us.

Our Future Plans

The Department of Health and Social Care has awarded capital funding to invest in local health services at both Calderdale Royal Hospital and Huddersfield Royal Infirmary. This is a significant investment and an opportunity to enhance services for our populations in Calderdale and Huddersfield and West Yorkshire for generations to come. To find out more, please visit https://future.cht.nhs.uk/

Job overview

To work as a specialist clinician within the CHFT Acute Frailty service. This is a rapidly developing service with the aim of providing a comprehensive geriatric assessment to frail patients presenting to the acute areas of CHFT.

This is a challenging and exciting post working within an evolving integrated multidisciplinary team consisting of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, specialist nurses, consultants, nurse consultant, advanced clinical practitioners, coordinators, pharmacists and physician associates. You will have the opportunity to work in the emergency department, medical assessment unit, Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) and surgical departments. You will focus on the complex needs of frail patients and work within the multi-disciplinary team to deliver a holistic assessment which meets the individual needs of our patients with a focus on admission avoidance and reduction in length of stay.

Main duties of the job

• To act as specialist clinician for the Acute Frailty Service within the Acute Medicine
• Work autonomously within Trust policies and professional practice, maintaining accurate and comprehensive up to date
• To manage own specialist caseload in these areas, demonstrating excellent skills in effective
• Provide and develop the core components of the specialist therapy role including clinical practice, management and
• Act as a clinical role model ensuring best practice in all
• To support the Team Leader in the day to day running of the Acute Frailty
• To support and advise in the wider MDT, and within CHFT on the delivery of excellent care of the frail
• To participate in the assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation of individualised programmes of care for frail older
• To recognise the changes in patients conditions which require the intervention of others and refer on as appropriate
• To clearly present the patients point of view, including promoting and protecting the interests and dignity of

Working for our organisation

This is a challenging and exciting post working within an evolving integrated multidisciplinary team consisting of physiotherapists, occupational therapists, specialist nurses, consultants, nurse consultant, advanced clinical practitioners, coordinators, pharmacists and physician associates. You will have the opportunity to work in the emergency department, medical assessment unit, Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) and surgical departments.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Clinical Duties
  • To provide specialist therapy input and to support the care provision for patients with
  • To effectively carry out a Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment on frail patients presenting to CHFT. This must involve a truly holistic approach to assessments including aspects which may not traditionally fall in a therapist’s
  • To assess, plan and implement specialist therapy interventions, ensuring that each patient has a coherent and comprehensive management plan. These plans will be developed with the patient and relatives/carer according to their needs and include referral to other disciplines and services, observing the principles of holistic
  • Promotes and provide effective communication; with other professionals, patients, carers and with other care
  • To maintain accurate, appropriate and concise patient records, involving documentation on electronic patient management
  • To promote and provide relevant and clear information, education and advice for patients, carers and families, according to their
  • Act as the patient’s advocate, supporting and promoting their involvement in decision
  • To provide specialist advice and information to professional colleagues, patients, carers and the
  • To take an active role in risk assessment, supporting implementation of strategies to minimise risk; ensuring incidents and near misses are reported, through promoting a no blame
  • To establish and maintain effective communication, both verbal and
  • To be aware of team members’ skills / competency and be able to delegate tasks and skill share
  • Act as an innovative and enthusiastic role model, providing leadership, guidance and advice to staff on operational and professional
  • Attend and participate in clinical meetings as required including providing feedback and disseminating information as appropriate
  • To effectively manage a rapidly changing and complex caseload, demonstrating highly skilled prioritisation and
  • To act within the Acute frailty service as a specialist resource providing advice for colleagues within the
  • To work collaboratively with health and social care community and acute colleagues
  • To ensure effective care pathways and transfers of
  • To ensure a high standard of patient care is provided including implementing and reviewing clinical standards relevant to the work
  • To work across a 7day service, working a variable shift pattern including weekends and bank
  • To develop competencies participate in the respiratory on call service as
• Professional Duties
  • Contribute to the development and implementation of protocols, procedures and guidelines.
• To give feedback on policies when required which may impact on the management of and care of frail
• To be actively involved in the maintenance of Clinical
• Act as a role model for quality patient care at all times, promoting the need for effective evidence based
• Act as patient advocate at all points of the care
• Work within the HCPC Code of Conduct at all
• Adhere to national, local and professional standards, guidance and directives relevant to the sphere of
• To provide and participate in clinical supervision as required.
• To support the development of other team
• To be responsible for the issue and safe use of equipment used in your area of work and to adhere to the appropriate service
• Contribute to the collection, analysis and dissemination of data as required for the
• To lead, develop and actively undertake clinical audit as
• To organise and participate in in-service training programmes ensuring appropriate training is
• To participate in the Trusts supervision process and peer review and maintain an up to date CPD portfolio including evidence of experiential learning, reflective practice and any relevant training or experience. This should demonstrate responsibility for maintaining own competency to
• To be responsible for the supervision and education of the undergraduate therapy
• Managerial Duties
  • Be proactive in the development of the frailty service, supporting the Lead Nurse for the Acute Frailty Team and Head of the Acute Frailty Service. Generating new ideas and innovations to support the development of the Frailty service.
  • Deputising for Lead Acute frailty Specialist Nurse as
  • To recognize, prevent where possible, and manage areas of conflict, reporting to the Lead Acute frailty Specialist Nurse if unable to
  • Initiate discussions with the lead nurse about any circumstances that could prevent the post holder or other staff fulfilling the requirements of the job
  • To participate in the staff recruitment process

Person specification

Qualifications/Training

• Evidence of Postgraduate Training
• Clinical Educator Training
• Previous NHS Experience
• Member of Professional Body
• Studied at Masters level or equivalent
• Attendance at relevant Special Interest Groups
• Relevant Accredited Postgraduate Training
• Manual Handling Facilitator

Knowledge, experience & expertise

• Recent and extensive clinical experience working with frail patients. This should include assessments, complex and autonomous decision making and discharge planning
• Good Clinical Reasoning skills
• Evidence of CPD, self directed learning and Reflective Practice
• Experience in contributing to service improvements e.g. Audit, patient information etc
• Experience developing others
• Ability to assess risk on discharge and to put risk reduction measures in place
• Awareness of relevant Legislation, Local and National initiatives
• Understanding of Clinical Governance
• Critical Appraisal Skills
• Ability to maintain accurate and timely records
• Previous experience working at Band 6 leve
• Experience in contributing to service improvements
• Experience in dealing with complaints (e.g. diffusing complaint or investigating complaint)

Communication & relationships

• Teaching/Presentation skills eg, presenting in service training
• Demonstrates positive attitude and behaviours
• Ability to communicate effectively with people with complex difficulties and in difficult situations
• Recognises own limitations and have willingness to share and learn from others
• Ability to concentrate and work in stressful conditions requiring emotional demands
• Ability to identify and articulate own training needs
• Self motivated with ability to work independently and influence others
• Proven ability to work well in a team
• Ability to make decisions and problem solve when dealing with routine situations
• Ability to organise own work and caseload and delegate appropriately

Our vision is to provide One Culture of Care for one another in order that we can provide compassionate care for the people who use our services. We are passionate about creating a workplace where we work together to get results, encouraging colleagues to have their say, in order to co create the change we want to see. We take pride in the diversity of our workforce that’s why we encourage applications from all. Reasonable adjustments will be made for disabled applicants.

We understand that more applicants are using AI technology to help with their applications. While these tools can be useful, they cannot fully capture your skills, knowledge, and experience. It’s important that you personalise your application. Relying solely on AI is not recommended, as it may reduce your chances of success. Our screening process is thorough, so if you have used AI, please make sure to disclose this on your application form.

Candidates who require a Skilled Worker visa to work in the United Kingdom can determine the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship for this position by assessing their circumstances against the criteria specified on the Check if you need a UK visa - GOV.UK website. We encourage all applicants to review these criteria carefully to understand their eligibility for sponsorship.

If you are appointed to a post, information will also be transferred into the NHS Electronic Staff Records system. The Inter-Authority Transfer (IAT) process is a critical and beneficial component of ESR and following interview your previous NHS employment data, if applicable will be transferred from your current / most recent employer.

You may be required to undertake a DBS. The Trust will administer the DBS check on your behalf and will recover the cost (Enhanced £54.40, Standard £26.40 or Basic £26.40) from your salary when you commence in post (including Internal staff). You will also be required to participate in the DBS Update Service and pay the £16 cost per year. This is a condition of your employment.

CHFT is part of the West Yorkshire Association of Acute Trusts (WYAAT), a collaborative of the NHS hospital trusts from across West Yorkshire and Harrogate working together to provide the best possible care for our patients.

If you have any questions please contact ask.recruitment@cht.nhs.uk for assistance.

Employer certification / accreditation badges

You must have appropriate UK professional registration.

This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.

Name Beckie Marr or Laura Hope Job title Acute frailty team lead Email address rebecca.marr@cht.nhs.uk Telephone number 07823797961

If you have problems applying, contact

Address Workforce and Organisational Development
Acre Mill
Acre Street
Lindley
Huddersfield
HD3 3EB
Telephone 01484 343369

At Calderdale and Huddersfield NHS Foundation Trust, we are excited to offer a range of volunteering roles, providing rewarding personal and professional opportunities for people from all backgrounds across a wide age range from our local communities, ensuring our volunteers are representative of our service users.