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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Clinical

1. To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of own work, including the management of patients in your care.

2. To be responsible for maintaining accurate and comprehensive patient treatment records in line with Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) standards and local/Trust policy. To communicate appropriately with other disciplines (this might include meetings, report and letter writing)

3. To undertake a comprehensive assessment of patients including those with diverse or complex presentations/multi pathologies; use advanced clinical reasoning skills and manual assessment techniques to provide an accurate clinical diagnosis of their condition.

4. Formulate and deliver an individual physiotherapy treatment programme based on a sound knowledge of evidence based practice and treatment options using clinical assessment, reasoning skills and knowledge of treatment skills e.g. specialist neurological or respiratory techniques, manual physiotherapy techniques, patient education, and other alternative options.

5. To take delegated responsibility from the Band 7 physiotherapist for managing patients with particular conditions and be responsible for providing specialist physiotherapy assessment and treatment plans for patients with these conditions.

6. Formulate accurate prognoses and recommend best course of intervention, developing comprehensive management plans.

7. Assess patient understanding of treatment proposals, gain valid informed consent, which must be documented and have the capacity to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment. To comply with local confidentiality policies, child protection and vulnerable adult procedures.

8. Use an extensive range of verbal and non-verbal communication tools to communicate effectively with patients/carers; to motivate, gain co-operation, to progress rehabilitation and treatment programmes.  This will include patients who may have difficulties in understanding or communicating.  For example, patients may be dysphasic, depressed, deaf, blind or who may be unable to accept diagnosis, or realistic expectations of Physiotherapy intervention.

9. Evaluate patient progress, reassess and alter treatment programmes if required.

10. To manage clinical risk within own patient caseload and to report incidents and near misses

11. Work within trust clinical guidelines and CSP guidelines and to have a good working knowledge of national and local standards and monitor own and others quality of practice as appropriate.

12. Rarely, when working in the community and domiciliary settings, work as a lone practitioner with telephone support from a senior physiotherapist if required.

13. To be an active member of the respiratory evening and weekend on-call rota and medical / surgical / cardiothoracic and critical care seven day services. Individual to ensure competencies are maintained.

14. When working on the emergency duty rota, undertake the assessment and treatment of acutely ill patients with respiratory/orthopaedic/ neuro problems, who may have a complex presentation and maintain associated records as an autonomous practitioner.

15. When working on the emergency duty on-call rota, provide advice to medical and nursing staff and other members of the multi-disciplinary team regarding patient’s respiratory/ major trauma orthopaedic/ neurology and chest functions/condition and its management.

16. To train, clinically supervise and performance management more junior staff, technical instructors, assistants and students, with assistance from more senior members of the physiotherapy team. This will include the use of formal appraisal documentation.

17. Represent physiotherapy service and /or individual patients at the multi-disciplinary team meetings, to ensure the delivery of a co-ordinated multidisciplinary service, and integrate physiotherapy treatment into the treatment programme.  This will include discussion of patient care, patient progress and involvement in discharge planning.

18. To be responsible for the safe and competent use of all electrotherapy equipment, gym equipment and patient appliances and aids by patients and ensure that junior staff/assistants attain competency prior to use.

Professional

1. To be responsible for maintaining own competency to practice through CPD activities, and maintain a portfolio which reflects personal development.
2. Be an active member of the in-service training programme by attendance at, and participation in, in-service training programmes, tutorials, individual training sessions, external courses and peer review.
3. Ensure that your own practice and that of any staff under your supervision meet the required professional standards of physiotherapy practice.

Organisational

1.  Participate in the staff appraisal scheme as an appraisee and be responsible for complying with your agreed personal development programmes to meet set knowledge and competencies.

2.  To undertake as directed the collection of data for use in service audit and research projects. 

3.  Be responsible for the safe and competent use of gym, electrotherapy and hydrotherapy equipment by patients, through teaching, training and supervision of practice.

4.  To be responsible for organising and planning own caseload to meet service and patient priorities.  Readjusting plans as situations change/arise.

5. Any other duties that might be considered appropriate by the physiotherapy line manager