Senior Occupational Therapist/Physiotherapist - Urgent Care & Frailty in Northampton

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a proactive individual to join our Urgent Care and Frailty Therapy team as a static band 6 Occupational Therapist or Physiotherapist at Northampton General Hospital, part of the University Hospitals of Northamptonshire. This is a fixed term contract for 12 months, secondments will be considered, part time 22.5hrs per week. This role will help you to strengthen and further develop your core and specialist clinical skills, as well as allowing you the opportunity to be involved in staff development, audit and service improvement.

The Urgent Care and Frailty Team consists of Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists and Therapy Support Staff. The Team covers the Emergency Department, Nye Bevan Assessment Unit and the Frailty Assessment Unit. We also work very closely with the extended multidisciplinary team. Previous experience of working as an Occupational Therapist or Physiotherapist across a broad range of specialities including acute medicine, care of the elderly, respiratory and orthopaedics would be beneficial in this field. If you are looking to develop your career in urgent care and enjoy working in a fast‑paced and stimulating environment, this is an excellent opportunity. We welcome applicants looking to further develop their band 6 skills with the opportunity to partake in our Leading an Empowered Organisation (LEO) Leadership course, as well as our placement educator training received from the University of Northampton.

Main duties of the job

• As a Band 6 clinician within a joint therapy service, you will be required to take part in delivering a quality Occupational Therapy/Physiotherapy Service working closely with other members of the Multidisciplinary Team including Therapy Technical Instructors, Nurses, Medics and the Hospital Complex case discharge Team.
• You will need to have an enthusiastic attitude, be forward thinking and have a problem‑solving approach to patient management.
• The ability to work within a fast paced and pressured environment is essential, along with having excellent communication and interpersonal skills, and demonstration of the ability to support other team members.
• The post holder will be responsible for the provision of Occupational Therapy / Physiotherapy assessment, intervention, and discharge planning of patients with multiple, sometimes complex diagnoses.
• You will also need to work in collaboration with other members of the multi‑disciplinary team in order to provide a patient‑centred service, working to identify patient needs to facilitate a safe and timely discharge from hospital.
• You will have the opportunity to contribute and lead on our new preceptorship programme including bootcamp training sessions for preceptees and service development projects.
• Robust peer support from fellow Band 6s is encouraged.
• You will also supervise Band 5 staff and Therapy Technical Instructors colleagues to provide clinical support and guidance.

Job responsibilities

• To perform a specialist Physiotherapy or Occupational Therapy role within the directorate clinical speciality, for patients on own caseload, many complex/highly complex needs.
• To perform more advanced and detailed assessments of patients presenting with a wide range of complex conditions and comorbidities; providing a plan and goals to develop, and to deliver an individualised treatment programme to our patients in ward areas.
• To work closely with Therapy colleagues to provide joint Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy assessments and treatment plans enabling efficient use of Therapies Team resources.
• To manage a caseload and be responsible for a defined area of the service, working without direct supervision, managing attendance of board rounds and ward meetings to contribute significantly to patient flow when ward based.
• To pro‑actively contribute to the timely and efficient discharge planning process for patients by selecting and implementing appropriate assessments and interventions, promoting a joint therapies approach with Physiotherapy colleagues.
• To be highly skilled in identifying pathways of patient care and to have awareness of discharge plans and suitable discharge locations.
• Provide clinical support and access to advice and supervision for junior staff.
• Day to day management and supervision of ward/ therapy teams including Band 5 therapists and band 3/4 therapy support workers as well as Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy students.
• To constantly improve clinical and professional practice and performance within the therapy services.
• To act as a source of expertise, demonstrating advanced knowledge and skill in the role and educate other healthcare professionals as to the therapy role.
• Support to band 7 and 8 Therapy colleagues in the day‑to‑day running of the urgent care team including staff appraisals, clinical projects, benchmarking, teaching and service evaluation.
• Undertake evidence‑based audit and research projects to further own and team's clinical practice.
• To promote the achievement of Northampton General Hospital's vision and values: Our therapy service covers 7 days per week, including bank holidays. The successful candidate will be expected to be part of the weekend service rota.

Person Specification

UHN welcomes applications from all backgrounds and is committed to an inclusive working environment. We are proud signatories of the Armed Forces Covenant and hold the Gold Award under the Employer Recognition Scheme. Candidates who identify as members of the Armed Forces community and meet the essential criteria will be guaranteed an interview.

Education, training and Qualifications

• BSc Honours (or equivalent) in Occupational Therapy or Physiotherapy
• Health and Care Professions Council Registration.
• UK work permit
• Pursuing or willing to undertake post graduate training

Knowledge and Experience

• Participation in work based learning
• Evidence of Continuing Professional Development
• Evidence of knowledge and understanding of the Clinical Quality Care standards
• Experience of working in the NHS
• Completion of some core band 5 rotations (orthopaedics, medical, surgical, stroke, elderly medicine)
• Experience of working with acutely deteriorating respiratory patients (for Physiotherapy applicants)
• Current band 5 experience within an acute hospital setting.
• Experience of leading work based learning
• Experience and knowledge of Clinical Governance
• Experience of working in Urgent Care / Frailty Teams
• Current experience in respiratory on call work (for Physiotherapy applicants)

Skills

• Experience of interpersonal working
• Good written and verbal communication
• Able to manage caseload autonomously
• Able to assess a patient's needs and formulate a treatment plan (with short and long term aims)
• Have experience in supporting and mentoring students
• Ability to drive Trust vehicles for assessments in patient's homes (OTs)
• Teaching and presentation skills

Disclosure and Barring Service Check

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.

Contract

Fixed term Duration 12 months

Reference number

265-7992827-CSS

Job locations

University Hospitals of Northamptonshire

£39,959 to £48,117 a year per annum / pro rata