Therapy Assistant Practitioner

Do you have a Foundation Degree or Higher Apprenticeship in a health related area? Are you looking for a new challenge? Do you want to develop and grow your clinical practice in an encouraging and supportive team? Do you like variety, want to work where no two days are the same? If yes, this role could be for you.

The PCH is a multidisciplinary team delivering health care to people in the Lowestoft area. The combined skills of the team mean they are able to respond to the changing needs of patients and support those who may previously have been admitted to hospital to remain at home. You will become an active member within this team of clinicians including Nurses, Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Assistant Practitioners, Rehab Support Workers, Healthcare Assistants and Phlebotomists, to name a few, participating in service developments as part of the culture of being a staff owned enterprise.

East Coast Community Healthcare is part of the NHS family which follows Agenda for Change terms and conditions and supports the transfer of NHS pension for those already in the scheme. In return for your commitment, we offer a wide range of staff benefits including investment in career development; salary sacrifice lease car scheme; child care vouchers; NHS discounts; pension schemes; flexible working.

Hours - up to full time.

Main duties of the job:

• Providing an excellent standard of person centered care to adults in their own homes, residential care or clinic settings, using a health coaching approach to support patients to reach their goals.
• Working under the guidance of an Occupational Therapist/Physiotherapist and/or Advanced Therapy Practitioner to manage your own caseload of non-complex patients.
• Delivering therapy interventions which could include mobility goals, delivery of exercise programmes, rehabilitation programmes including daily living skills practice, fatigue management, cognitive rehabilitation, anxiety management, neurological rehabilitation and upper limb rehabilitation.
• Prescribing non-complex equipment and completing holistic assessments including environmental and moving handling.

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.

We encourage you to apply as early as possible as this job may close earlier than the advertised closing date once enough applications have been received.

Next steps - If you are interested in this position please contact Therapy Lead (07805143685) to discuss further or arrange an informal visit.

Job responsibilities:

• Contribute to, support and promote ECCH's strategic direction, values and culture in relation to proactive and reactive services.
• Use technical and interpersonal skills to engage patients/clients in therapeutic activities to promote independence and wellbeing.
• Communicate effectively with patients, relatives and carers, respecting patient confidentiality with privacy and respect for diverse cultural backgrounds and requirements.
• Participate in clinical supervision within Primary Care Network as required.
• Participate and maintain a learning environment and maximise opportunities for education and development in the clinical area to enhance individual development and performance in the delivery of high standards of care.
• Develop excellent internal and external networks in order to promote Primary Care Network.
• Contribute to the clinical governance agenda through participation in clinical audit.
• Contribute to an environment conducive to effective working, respecting and supporting staff to deliver high quality clinical services.
• Contribute to change and innovation within Primary Care Network.

Work Together, Achieve Together:

• Work as part of the multidisciplinary Primary Care Network to deliver proactive and reactive services in devising programmes, therapeutic activities and interventions.
• Work in partnership with members of the Primary Care Network to review the delegated caseload and ensure the care provided is of high quality.
• Work collaboratively with residential care home colleagues to promote high standards of care.
• Work with patients towards self-care and independence utilising health coaching techniques.
• Support families and carers, being aware of the effects of illness on the family.
• Work as part of the multidisciplinary team to deliver supportive care to patients approaching end of life.
• Carry out Therapy assessments and provide information about a patient's abilities and difficulties and suggest strategies to overcome the latter.
• Carry out home visits to support patients in their own homes to promote independence and achieving their identified goals.

My Responsibility, My Accountability:

• Plan and organise a range of clinical activities in a wide range of community settings to ensure best practice is delivered.
• Measure for and order equipment to ensure patient safety and effective service delivery.
• Engage in personal development; maintain competence, knowledge and skills commensurate with role.
• Be wholly accountable for practice taking every reasonable opportunity to sustain and improve knowledge and competence.
• Maintain legible, accurate and contemporaneous patient records in accordance with ECCH Policy.
• Follow professional standards for Occupational Therapy/Physiotherapy, code of Ethics and Professional Conduct and all other policies and procedures.
• Take, record and report blood pressure, respiration, pulse rate and oxygen saturation levels as necessary.
• Undertake and record MUST and Waterlow assessments and take appropriate action.
• Refer to social care services as required.
• Discharge patients from service.

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.