Senior Physiotherapist in Huddersfield

We are looking for an experienced and compassionate Physiotherapist to join the Kirkwood Integrated Community Services team. This role offers the opportunity to provide specialist physiotherapy to people with progressive life-limiting illness across the in-patient unit and community settings, while contributing to service development within a third-sector organisation.

The role of the postholder is to provide specialist physiotherapy services on the in-patient unit and in the community through one-to-one and group interventions for people with life-limiting illness, working autonomously and in partnership with the wider IDT.

You will contribute to the development of services that promote function and the overall wellbeing of patients and carers, set and review patient-centred goals, optimise quality of life and co-produce services in response to patient need.

Primary Responsibilities

Clinical / Professional Role

• Autonomously manage an allocated caseload, undertaking comprehensive holistic physiotherapy assessment, evidence-based clinical reasoning and timely intervention for patients with complex progressive life-limiting illness, recognising the limits of personal competence and seeking advice or referring onwards when required.

• Assess and address mobility, transfers, balance, falls risk, rehabilitation potential, fatigue, breathlessness, pain-related movement, positioning, exercise and functional maintenance, including respiratory interventions and manual handling advice within the postholder’s competence. Tailor assessment and treatment to each patient’s physical, emotional, social and spiritual needs, adapting the approach as conditions and contexts change.

• Work in a person-centred and inclusive way, adapting communication and care to individual needs, disability, culture and health literacy. Promote independence, autonomy, quality of life and sense of self by involving the patient, carer, family and inter-disciplinary team in treatment planning and review.

• Use appropriate outcome measures to set and regularly review patient-centred goals, evaluate treatment effectiveness and determine whether interventions should continue, change or cease. Provide advice regarding symptom management and patient care to the IDT and external colleagues and support safe, coordinated discharge planning where appropriate.

• Communicate effectively with patients, carers and relatives, demonstrating compassion and empathy when providing advice, education and support. Obtain and record valid consent, apply relevant mental capacity and best-interest processes, and recognise, report and elevate safeguarding concerns in accordance with legislation and organisational policy.

• Provide advice, education and training to patients, carers and the inter-disciplinary team regarding the safe use of recommended aids and equipment to promote patients’ independence in activities of daily living.

• Participate in IDT meetings, professional and family meetings offering specialist input and advice and act as an advocate for the patient.

• Undertake visits to patients’ homes and make recommendations for equipment, adaptations and support.

• Be mobile across Kirklees, with access to their own vehicle, to undertake home visits and complete functional assessments of patients in their home environment, seeking support from the Physiotherapy Lead when required.

• Work closely with equipment services, community therapists and external agencies in the provision of necessary equipment and adaptations to maximise patients’ independence, comfort and safety on discharge, with an emphasis on quality of life.

• Assess for and prescribe appropriate specialist equipment for use on the in-patient setting.

• Provide specialist clinical advice and support to the IDT and external agencies.

Management Role

• Ensure that patient documentation is completed accurately and contemporaneously using SystmOne and paper records, in accordance with professional standards, hospice policy and legal requirements. Maintain confidentiality, information security and data quality, and share information securely and appropriately.

• Support and, where appropriate, delegate activities to therapy assistants, junior staff, students and volunteers, ensuring that tasks are appropriate to their competence, that suitable instruction and supervision are provided, and that the postholder remains accountable for reviewing delegated care and outcomes.

• Provide cover for the therapy service and prioritise physiotherapy interventions in the absence of the Physiotherapy Lead.

• Support the KICS team and actively contribute to the achievement of service development initiatives.

• Maintain operational awareness of service priorities, capacity, demand and available resources, escalating emerging pressures, risks and barriers to the KICS Team Leader in a timely manner.

• Contribute to day‑to‑day operational and forward planning of the physiotherapy service, including prioritisation of referrals, workload management, continuity of care and effective deployment of resources in response to changing patient and service needs.

• Collaborate with the therapy team to undertake audit of physiotherapy provision in order to maintain high standards within the service and evaluate outcomes.

• Participate in policy and guideline development relevant to therapy provision.

Educational Role

• Maintain current HCPC registration, practise in accordance with HCPC standards and relevant professional guidance, and maintain a professional portfolio in accordance with HCPC recommendations and the competency framework for the role.

• Undertake training and education to ensure ongoing personal and professional development.

• Maintain and develop current knowledge of evidence based practice in palliative care and National Standards and guidelines, incorporating these appropriately into clinical practice.

• Take responsibility to access clinical supervision.

• Engage in personal development reviews, ensuring CPD and service standards are maintained – in partnership with line management develop learning objectives to meet set knowledge and competencies.

• Contribute to clinical education by identifying learning needs and planning, delivering and evaluating evidence-based learning for staff, students, volunteers and IDT colleagues within the scope of the role.

• Engage and assist the therapy team with the delivery of formal and informal education.

• Support in supervising the team members, students and volunteers.

Quality Assurance Role

• Ensure physiotherapy practice is evidence-based and use patient and carer experience, outcome data and learning from practice to inform quality improvement and service development.

• Initiate changes to practice in partnership with appropriate IDT members.

• Initiate and undertake further policy and standard setting, audit and research as appropriate.

• To participate in the development and implementation of policies, protocols, procedures and guidelines.

• Actively engage with The Kirkwood’s clinical governance mechanisms, including incident reporting and learning, risk management, audit, patient and carer feedback, policy review, quality improvement and dissemination of learning, taking action within the scope of the role and escalating concerns appropriately.

• To carry out governance initiatives measuring and evaluating the physiotherapy service, its effectiveness, activity data and real-time feedback.

• To collaborate with the therapy team and KICS team to develop and undertake regular audits of physiotherapy provision.

• To attend internal and external meetings, representing the team and organisation when required.

Health and Safety

• All staff have a responsibility to identify and assess risk. Staff are actively encouraged to report all incidents. In order to ensure all incidents are reported, an open culture operates in which staff are free to report incidents in the knowledge that they will be supported.

• The postholder is responsible for the identification, assessment and analysis of risks and implementing action plans to reduce risk and minimise the impact of known risks and ensure they are familiar with all risk management and health and safety policies and procedures.

Other Responsibilities

• To work in accordance with the values of The Kirkwood. Patients, Families and Carers are the focus of everything we do. Our values are what we live and work by.

• We are:

• Respectful and Inclusive

• Passionate and Determined

• Open and Honest

• Kind and Compassionate

• Forward-thinking

• We strive for Quality and Excellence

• To participate in The Kirkwood’s performance and development review process.

• To undertake any other duties required by The Kirkwood’s Management team commensurate with the post.

• To undertake annual mandatory training provided by The Kirkwood.

• To maintain complete confidentiality as a condition of employment. Information relating to patients, other members of staff and volunteers or which is acquired for the purposes of employment may only be disclosed with the express permission of the appropriate manager.

• To respect the ethos and values of The Kirkwood and its services and comply with its policies, procedures and regulations.

This job description is not exhaustive therefore the employer and employee share responsibility to review and amend this job description in order to reflect any changes in role/development.