Physiotherapist - Intermediate Care in Lowestoft

Are you a newly qualified Physiotherapist or someone who is looking for a new role within rehabilitation and reablement? This could be the role for you. An exciting new opportunity has become available for a Physiotherapist to work as part of the therapy team at Carlton Court Intermediate Care Unit based in Carlton Coville, Lowestoft. The post holder will be expected to provide clinical skills to manage a caseload of patients using evidence based practice in order to achieve their goals.

Main duties of the job

• The post holder will be responsible for delivering a high standard of rehabilitation as part of a multidisciplinary team for patients with highly complex needs.
• The post holder will mostly provide therapy interventions within a ward-based setting however there may be a requirement to work across the wider community setting on occasion.
• The post holder will be working as an autonomous practitioner applying a high level of clinical reasoning to ensure that individualised care is delivered safely.
• The aim of the service is to provide rehabilitation and reablement to patients admitted to the intermediate care unit from both the acute hospital and the community in order to enable:
• Faster recovery from illness
• Prevention of unnecessary acute hospital admissions
• Prevention of premature admission to long term residential care
• A timely discharge from hospital
• Independence to be maximised

You will be required to develop and maintain clinical skills in line with the role's job description and your professional registration. The post holder will also be required to ensure that any delegated workload is completed by staff with the appropriate competencies.

Job responsibilities

• CLINICAL: To be professionally and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of your own work including the management of patients in your care.
• To ensure a high standards of clinical care for the patients under your management and support others to do likewise.
• To interpret and analyse clinical and non-clinical facts to form an accurate diagnosis and prognosis in a wide range of conditions, to recommend the best course of intervention and to develop comprehensive management strategies for the patient's presenting condition.
• To undertake comprehensive assessment of patients, using investigative and analytical skills and to formulate individualised management and treatment plans, using clinical reasoning and utilising a wide range of treatment skills and options to formulate a specialised programme of care.
• To accept clinical responsibility for a designated caseload of patients and to organise this effectively and efficiently with regard to clinical priorities and use of time.
• To demonstrate highly developed precise dexterity, co-ordination and palpatory senses for assessment and manual treatment of patients.
• To provide spontaneous and planned specialist advice, teaching, and instruction to relatives, carers and other professions to promote understanding of the aims of physiotherapy and to ensure a consistent approach to patient care.
• To be responsible for equipment used in carrying out physiotherapy duties and to adhere to any relevant policies, including competence to use equipment and ensure safe use of equipment by others through teaching, training and supervision of practice.
• To supervise team members when appropriate.
• To provide clinical supervision for physiotherapy students on placement and to explain the role of physiotherapy to departmental visitors.
• To assist more senior staff in the training of students and therapy assistant practitioners.
• To communicate effectively with patients and carers to maximise the rehabilitation potential and to ensure understanding of the condition.
• To assess capacity, gain valid informed consent and have the ability to work within the legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.

• PROFESSIONAL: To maintain own clinical professional development (CPD) by keeping abreast of any new trends and developments and incorporate them as necessary into your work.
• To be an active member of the in-service training programme by attendance at training sessions in-house, tutorials and by attending external courses and practicing reflective practice.
• To maintain accurate, comprehensive and up to date documentation in line with legal, departmental and ECCH requirements, communicating assessment and treatment results to the appropriate disciplines in the form of reports and letters.
• To participate in staff appraisal scheme and personal development plan (PDP).
• To undertake the measurement and evaluation of your work and current practices through the use of evidence based practice (EBP) projects, audit and outcome measures, either individually or with other clinical staff and the clinical lead for physiotherapy.
• Make recommendations for change.
• Demonstrate a sound understanding of Clinical Governance and Risk Management and apply to the work situation.

• ORGANISATIONAL: To be responsible for a designated area of work as agreed with the team leader and to plan and organise efficiently and effectively with regard to patient management and use of time.
• To decide priorities for a work area, balancing other patient related and professional demands.
• Ensure that these remain in accordance with those of the service as a whole.
• To be actively involved in the collection of appropriate data and statistics for use in the physiotherapy service.
• To be aware of Health and Safety aspects of your work and implement any policies, which may be required to improve the safety of your work area, including prompt recording and reporting of accidents to senior staff and ensuring that equipment use is safe.
• Ensure the implementation of service policies and any service development changes.
• To comply with the organisational and service policies and procedures and to be involved in the reviewing and updating as appropriate.
• To undertake any duties that might be considered appropriate by a senior clinician, Clinical lead/coordinator and professional Lead.
• The post holder will be expected to participate in a rota system of shift working to cover a 6-day a week service.
• To travel between ECCH sites for meetings and training.

All roles within East Coast Community Healthcare CIC (ECCH) require staff to demonstrate our Values and Signature Behaviours in the care and service they provide to patients, service users, stakeholders and colleagues. Our Values outline the core behaviours that we can all achieve and are summarised as an acronym within the word 'CARE'. These stand for: Compassion, Action, Respect and Everyone. Underpinning our Values are our Signature Behaviours which highlight by taking the right actions we continue to build a strong culture.

Person Specification

• Qualifications
• Essential: Degree in Physiotherapy
• Desirable: Further post graduate qualifications
• Experience
• Essential: Evidence of clinical placements as a student and ability to apply skills to the clinical areas.
• Desirable: Previous experience as a Band 5 physiotherapist
• Additional Criteria
• Skills & Knowledge
• Essential: Knowledge of physiotherapy in relevant area, Forward thinking, Excellent interpersonal skills, Ability to work independently, Ability to pass on skills / knowledge to others within both formal and informal environments, Ability to deal with patients with communication difficulty for example poor hearing, mental frailty and confusion.
• Desirable: Critical Appraisal, Audit, Research
• Personal Attributes
• Essential: Physical capacity to deal with moderate physical effort on a daily basis, including transporting equipment, mobilising patients, supporting weight of patient's limbs for mobilising and other treatment techniques. Physical and mental capacity to deal sensitively with patients who may have high levels of anxiety and aggression. Capacity to concentrate for considerable periods of time during assessment and management of patients. Able to work collaboratively within a team. Continuing professional Development. Able to maintain judgement under pressure. Ability to work in unpleasant working conditions for example; poor body hygiene of patients, contact with body fluids and unhygienic domestic conditions. Flexible working. Willingness and ability to work across different sites and travel to alternative sites and across the community as required.

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. Applications from job seekers who require current Skilled worker sponsorship to work in the UK are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications.