Specialist Occupational Therapist/ Physiotherapist in Lowestoft

This post offers an exciting opportunity to become a bank member of a well established multi-disciplinary team working with patients with ME/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS). The service offers specialist clinical support to people with ME/CFS of all ages, and treatment is offered via online therapy groups, telephone or video appointments, or in face to face clinic settings. The role will be primarily remote working with the opportunity to work at one of our clinic sites across Norfolk and Waveney. The aim of the service is to provide information and guidance on implementing effective self-management strategies to people with ME/CFS. We offer a holistic approach which focuses on the overall health and wellbeing of those under our care. We welcome applications from clinicians with experience of working with people with fatigue conditions and an understanding of ME/CFS.

Main duties of the job

• You will be delivering a range of specialist therapy interventions including activity management, energy conservation, relaxation skills and advice regarding school and work.
• You will be providing a service to adults, children and young people.
• This role includes managing patient flow, responding to patient queries via email and telephone, and contributing to service development.

About us

ECCH is a well established health care provider and has been successfully delivering NHS care within the community since 2011. We provide a range of NHS, community health and social care services predominantly across the easterly region of the Norfolk/Suffolk borders. We are aligned to NHS terms and conditions, and offer many employee benefits. We are a social enterprise and staff owned organisation which means staff can opt to be shareholders and have a real say in how ECCH is run and evolves to deliver healthcare for the future. At the heart of our ambition, we work in partnership with and for the community to become the provider and employer of choice for community healthcare.

The team consists of GPwSI's, Occupational Therapists and a Physiotherapist who cover all of Norfolk and Suffolk. We are a friendly, enthusiastic and supportive team who despite the distance in clinics are in regular contact with each other, sharing ideas, and working collaboratively.

Job responsibilities

• To ensure a high standard of clinical care for the patients under your management.
• To accept clinical responsibility for a designated caseload of patients and to organise this efficiently and effectively with regard to clinical priorities and use of time.
• To provide spontaneous and planned advice, teaching and instruction to relatives, carers and other professionals, to promote understanding of the aims of the self-management programme and to ensure a consistent approach to patient care.
• To communicate and liaise effectively with other members of the multi-professional team about patient issues in order to facilitate a team approach to patient care.
• To communicate effectively with patients and carers to maximise rehabilitation potential and to ensure understanding of condition.
• To effectively manage patient flow through management of triage processes.
• To respond to patient queries and enquiries, providing information and support via email and telephone.

Professional

• Maintain accurate and up-to-date documentation in line with legal and departmental requirements, and communicate assessment and treatment results to the appropriate disciplines in the form of reports and letters.
• To communicate effectively and work collaboratively with MDT colleagues across health and social care economy to ensure delivery of a co-ordinated service.
• Demonstrate a sound understanding of Clinical Governance and Risk Management and apply to work situation, and ensure others do likewise.

Organisational

• Plan and organise this efficiently and effectively with regard to patient management and use of time.
• Decide priorities for own work area and ensure that these remain in accordance with those of the speciality and department as a whole.
• Be actively involved in the collection of appropriate data and statistics for the use of the department.
• Be aware of the Health and Safety aspects of your work and implement any policies which may be required to improve the safety of your work area.
• To comply with the organisational and departmental policies and procedures and to be involved in the reviewing and updating as appropriate.
• Any other duties which might be considered appropriate by the ME/CFS Service Lead.

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.

Person Specification

Qualifications

• Degree or diploma in Occupational Therapy / Physiotherapy/Nursing
• Registration with HCPC/ NMC
• Membership of professional body
• Relevant validated clinical courses

Experience

• Multi-agency working
• Experience at senior level
• Previous experience in the specialist area of ME/CFS

Additional Criteria

SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

• Excellent interpersonal skills
• Assessment, problem solving and planning skills
• Forward thinking
• Ability to work independently
• Self-directed learning

PERSONAL ATTRIBUTES

• Ability to embrace our Culture, Values and Signature Behaviours.
• Willingness and ability to work across different sites and travel to alternative sites and across the community as required.

SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE

• Experience of working with people with ME/CFS or people experiencing fatigue.

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 to check for any previous criminal convictions.