Job summary
Employer heading
Physiotherapy Assistant
NHS AfC: Band 4
Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is a unique organisation, serving as the sole integrated provider in the Bath and North East Somerset, Swindon, and Wiltshire system. Our scope extends beyond boundaries as we oversee adult community services in Swindon and provide acute care from the Great Western Hospital.
Our 5,500 staff have 1.2m patient contacts a year, with 13,000 operations carried out in our Theatres, around 4,000 babies born, and our emergency attendances are now well over 100,000 per year. Those numbers only tell part of our story about what an exciting time it is to join Great Western Hospitals.
We are cultivating a culture that fosters our ambitions, prioritising equality, diversion, inclusion, wellbeing, and leadership. We aim to create an environment where every member of our team can truly thrive.
The Trust is a Disability Confident Employer; all applicants who have a disability can opt to be considered under the guaranteed interview scheme, which means that, providing they meet the minimum essential criteria for the post, they will be offered an interview. We are also proudly accredited as a Veteran Aware organisation and have signed The Armed Forces Covenant.
If we receive a high volume of applications, we may close adverts prior to the published closing date. Therefore, we advise you to complete and submit your application as soon as possible.
Job overview
The Acute Physiotherapy Team are looking for an experienced assistant to work across the medical and surgical wards at The Great Western Hospital to provide early rehabilitation to prevent hospital acquired deconditioning and optimise independence to reduce care burden on discharge .
We cover a varied caseload allowing exciting opportunities to gain a wealth of experience including post abdominal surgery, frailty and falls, long term conditions with acute deterioration, and acute neurological condition management.
You will be part of a driven team who are utilising the principles of improving together to drive team led change and development.
Whilst this is advertised as a full-time position, we are open to discussing part time opportunities for the right candidate, and would invite you to contact us to discuss further if this applies to you.
Main duties of the job
The post holder will assist the qualified Therapists with assessment and treatment of patients on the Acute medical and surgical wards. The focus is on timely discharge planning and restoring the patients to the highest level of independence. The post holder will complete case simple initial assessments, formulate and implement treatment programmes and advise on discharge plans under the guidance of the qualified therapist. There will also be a role in supporting new staff in the team providing both formal and informal training to newly qualified rotational staff, students and assistants.
Working for our organisation
“Our STAR values – Service, Teamwork, Ambition and Respect – are a golden thread running through everything we do. These values serve as a guiding principle, driving us towards our vision of delivering great joined up services to our local community. Whether at home, in the community, or within the hospital, our goal is to empower individuals to lead independent and healthier lives.”
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
- To assess case simple patients independently. Formulate treatment plans, advise on rehabilitation potential and discharge options.
- To be responsible for assessing the medical fitness of patients before commencing treatment and to communicate immediately with an appropriate professional any change in patients’ status or other observations about patient behaviour, ability and response to therapeutic intervention.
- To assist the Physiotherapists with complex patient assessment, treatment and management, and patients that require more than one person to treat or mobilise.
- To supervise and progress patient exercise regimes and treatment programmes including passive mobilisation techniques and stretches.
- To prioritise the daily ward caseload, decide on case complex/case simple and communicate this information to the coordinator and cluster team.
- To participate in ward multidisciplinary team meetings, case conferences and board rounds to facilitate discharge planning.
- To work contracted hours over 7 days
Please see attached job description for full details.
Person specification
Qualifications
Essential criteria
- GCSE (or equivalent) English and Maths.
- Good IT skills
- Care Certificate
Desirable criteria
- NVQ or similar in Health and Social Care
- Leadership courses
Experience
Essential criteria
- Knowledge of health and safety issues e.g. manual handling, infection control
- Understanding of the importance of confidentiality and consent
- Previous experience as a Physio assistant or Occupational therapy assistant
- Experience in mobilising patients with various equipment and weight bearing abilities.
- To be able to work under instruction and independently.
- Experience in discharge planning
- Provision of exercise programmes.
Desirable criteria
- Knowledge of common medical and surgical conditions e.g. COPD, diabetes, ulcers, falls, and amputees.
- To have experience of supervising others.
- To have experience in obtaining ward handovers and prioritising patients.
- To have an up to date and relevant CPD file
- Experience of setting treatment plans, goals etc
Knowledge
Essential criteria
- Competent in issuing walking aids and carrying out stair assessments
- Previous experience working with ward inpatients, both medical and surgical.
- Able to organise self and workload in order to complete given tasks; within a given timescale.
- Ability to remain calm when dealing with challenging situations
Desirable criteria
- Competency in case simple new patient assessments.
- Issuing basic OT equipment for home
- Understanding of the NHS drivers and 5 year plan
Applicant requirements
This post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service.
Documents to download
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Hannah Haywood
- Job title
- Acute Physiotherapy Team Lead
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01793 605126
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