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Detailed job description and main responsibilities

To provide an expert service to the Acute Frailty Unit and expert support and guidance to the wider Trust, dependent on clinical need and individual patient care requirements. 

The post-holder will sit within the Cancer and Core Clinical Services division. For professional accountability and personal development, the post-holder will be supervised by the to the Professional Lead Physiotherapist and report to the Head of Therapies. 

To act as a specialist  physiotherapist, providing high quality patient centered care for patients living with frailty. 

To be professional and legally responsible and accountable for all aspects of your own work including the management of patients in your care. To ensure a high standard of clinical care for the patients under your management, and support more junior staff to do likewise, taking over the care of more complex patents where appropriate.

Please note, if you are considering applying for a role within our organisation we do recommend that staff are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, this is no longer a mandatory requirement.

To interpret and analyse clinical and non-clinical facts from a wide range of sources to form accurate diagnosis and prognoses in a wide range of highly complex conditions, to recommend the best course of intervention, and to develop comprehensive discharge plans.

To undertake the comprehensive assessment of patients, including those with a complex presentation, using investigative and analytical skills, and to formulate individualised management and treatment plans, using clinical reasoning, and utilising a wide range or treatment skills and options to formulate a specialised programme of care.

To provide the specialist physiotherapy input to any inpatient, outpatient and follow up clinics as required.

To ensure team members select and refer patients appropriately to other Healthcare Professionals and Therapy services, ensuring planned continuity of care.

To assess patients for standard and bespoke aids and appliances, request their provision and teach patients/, carers and more junior staff in their safe application and use.

To participate in physiotherapy and multi-professional working parties developing policy and service changes within specialist area which will impact on service users.

To provide spontaneous and planned advice, teaching and instruction to relatives, carers and other professionals, to promote understanding of the aims of physiotherapy, and to ensure a consistent approach to patient care.

To provide specialist advice to physiotherapy colleagues working within other clinical areas regarding specialist area.

To provide specialist advice, teaching and training to members of your own, the cardiorespiratory and medical therapy team, wider therapy department and other members of the MDT regarding the physiotherapy management of patients in this specialist area: this may involve challenging or requesting changes to treatment plans.

To train, supervise and performance manage less senior staff, assistants and physiotherapy students, within your team, the cardiorespiratory and medical therapy team and wider therapy workforce. This will include the use of formal appraisal documentation.

To be a source of clinical expertise and advice for Junior and less senior Therapists in your team and wider therapy workforce and to assess needs for, plan and contribute to the delivery of an in-service training programme for your team and the wider therapy and MDT workforce.

To communicate in a highly skilled and effective manner with patients and carers to maximise rehabilitation potential and to ensure understanding of condition. This regularly includes people with communication/ comprehension difficulties and barriers to understanding, and can involve the delivery of difficult prognoses /outcomes of treatment.

To assess capacity, gain valid informed consent and have the ability to and support team members to, work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.

To undertake individual patient and generic clinical risk assessments, and ensure that the highest standards of patient risk assessment are met within your team

The job holder must comply with the Medway NHS Foundation Trust Infection Prevention and Control policies at all times and adhere to the Clinical Work Wear policy. In particular hand hygiene must be performed before and after contact with patients and their environment.  Mandatory training must also be completed and up to date

To be an active member of the hospital wide Physiotherapy emergency on-call service, attending competency training session and maintaining an on-call competency file

To maintain a high level of specialist knowledge relevant to practice area,  maintaining own clinical professional development (CPD) by keeping abreast of any new trends and developments, and incorporate them as necessary into your work.

To develop specialist services, protocols and pathways in collaboration with the specialist RSU MDT members, team leads of other therapy teams (such as the cardiorespiratory and critical care services) and wider MDT workforce to improve patient care.

To be an active member of the Therapy service training programme by the attendance and delivering presentations and training sessions at staff meetings, tutorials, training sessions in house and by attending external courses, participating in peer review, working with Clinical interest groups and practising reflective practice.

To communicate effectively and work collaboratively with medical, nursing and therapy colleagues, demonstrating an understanding of their roles, to ensure delivery of a co-ordinated multidisciplinary service. This will include multi-disciplinary team meetings, ward rounds, discharge planning and attending  / initiating case conferences.

To participate in the staff appraisal scheme as both appraisee and appraiser for junior and less senior therapists and assistants.

To initiate and undertake the measurement and evaluation of your own and your teams work and current practices through the use of Evidence Based Practice projects, audit and outcome measures, either individually or with clinical specialist or manager. Make recommendations for change to service delivery, protocols etc. in conjunction with Professional Leads and Head of Therapy.

To establish protocol for, and monitor the appropriate delegation of support work to assistants in your team by the qualified members of staff.

To apply a sound understanding of Clinical Governance and Risk Management to work situation and manage clinical Risk within your team in conjunction with Professional Leads and Head of Therapy.

To develop, update, monitor and audit therapy policies and protocols for clinical area, ensuring they are implemented by the team, and communicating with others where they impact on the wider therapy team.

To accept clinical responsibility for a designated speciality / clinical area, as agreed with the Head of Therapies, organise this efficiently and effectively with regard to patient’s management, clinical priorities and use of time.

To plan and organise staff allocated to the team to ensure adequate cover, advising the Professional Leads and Head of Therapies of staffing levels and impact on patient care

To decide priorities for your speciality team, balancing other patient related and professional demands ensuring that these remain in accordance with those of the physiotherapy service as a whole and assisting/guiding more junior staff to do likewise.

To be responsible for ensuring the effective selection and use of all treatment resources available both in the department and on the wards.

To be responsible for equipment used in carrying out therapy duties, and to adhere to departmental policy, including competence to use equipment and to ensure the safe use of equipment by others through, teaching, training and supervision of practice.

To ensure that your team maintain accurate, comprehensive and up-to-date documentation, in line with legal and departmental requirements, and communicate assessment and treatment results to the appropriate disciplines in the form of reports and letters.

To be responsible for providing / ensuring immediate access to a member of your speciality by bleep at all times during service hours.

To ensure the collection and timely submission of required data and statistics, monitoring and communicating trends to the Professional Leads and Head of Therapies.

To work with Professional Leads and Head of Therapies in developing the strategic and operational management of the therapy service.

To be aware of Health and Safety aspects of your work and implement any policies, which may be required to improve the safety of your work area, including your prompt recording and reporting of accidents to senior staff, and ensuring that equipment use is safe.

To comply with organisational and departmental policies and procedures, ensure that designated staff members do so and to be involved in the reviewing and updating as appropriate.

To develop and monitor annual Team Objectives, in line with Therapy service objectives and strategic direction