JOB DESCRIPTION
Safe, compassionate, effective care provided to our communities
with a transparent, open approach.
JOB TITLE: Specialist Physiotherapist (Neurology), Therapy at Home Team
BASE: Therapy at Home Team,
Homerton University Hospital
MANAGED BY: Therapy at Home Team Group Manager
CONTEXT:
The Therapy at Home (TaHT) is an established intermediate care team providing a range of intensive, short-term assessment and rehabilitation services to clients’ in their own homes, the community and within a residential environment. It is a key link between the health and social care economies in Hackney and has operational links to Homerton University Hospital and Social Services, London Borough of Hackney. The team is working towards a restructure with crisis and reablement teams to create a fully integrated health and social care service with a single point of access and a streamlined multi-disciplinary assessment, intervention and care planning framework.
Currently, Therapy at Home offers input to 70-80 clients in the community, nine beds in a residential environment (Median Road Intermediate Care Unit –MRICU) for people requiring a more supported setting, fulfilling the main aims of Intermediate Care provision of maximising independence for older people through therapy programmes and contributing to the wider aims of reducing hospital length of stay and reducing admissions to hospital and residential care for older people. The team also provides Early Supported Stroke Discharge and is a key part of the Stroke Pathway. Individual therapy programmes are developed by the therapists (Occupational Therapy, Physiotherapy, Speech & Language Therapy and Psychotherapy) in the Therapy At Home Team and implemented by the Therapy Assistants in the person’s own home and local community. Intervention is often for a period of six weeks.
JOB SUMMARY:
The post holder is a senior member of the team and responsible for:
· Providing specialist neurological input to clients referred across the service and ensuring the service is responsive and meets the needs of the clients, Intermediate Care Aims, Stroke Standards & the preventative and rehabilitation agendas
· Leading the neurological MDT or providing a lead for the Therapy assistants across all teams
· Developing and evaluating the acute- community Stroke Pathway with key leads from hyper-acute Stroke units, the Homerton’s Graham Stroke Unit, First Response Duty Team and the Adult Community Rehabilitation Team including providing in-reach, joint assessment, 6 – 12 month reviews and collation and presentation of outcome measures.
· Providing clinical supervision and appraisal to health and social care staff. Supervising and teaching students on placement.
· Participating in on going service development, including in-service training and professional development.
· The post holder will be working in a challenging socio-economic environment, involving patients who have highly complex social problems and those from culturally diverse backgrounds.
PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES:
1. Undertake specialist neurological physiotherapy assessment, treatment and evaluation for clients with complex physical, cognitive and challenging behavioural presentations as an autonomous practitioner across the Therapy at Home team and MRICU.
2. Be able to independently evaluate progress and adapt therapy as necessary.
3. Lead on the interdisciplinary approach to neurological rehabilitation working closely with all disciplines of the team ensuring the client’s management is goal directed and leading on multidisciplinary neurological assessments, intervention decision-making, team meetings and reviews.
4. Maintain accurate goal orientated client records within a multidisciplinary framework and support high documentation standards within the team which meet departmental and professional guidance.
5. Plan and monitor workload in conjunction with the team using appropriate methods to prioritise for self and team.
6. Be highly skilled in effective communication with patients with speech, cognitive and behavioural problems. This will also include communication with patients where there is a language barrier.
7. Empowering clients to make informed choices about intervention of care and promote this within the team
8. Take responsibility for ensuring that client information is shared appropriately across the pathway providers.
9. Support, advise and provide education for clients and/or carers as appropriate.
10. Lead case management of complex clients, including liaison with external agencies, within the principles of the Single Assessment Process to ensure continuity of care in the community.
11. Establish effective links with relevant disciplines within the Trust and other organisations including statutory and voluntary agencies.
12. Build on professional links with other staff working in acute, primary care and social services, sharing knowledge and quality services initiatives.
13. Planning, developing and delivering teaching/training programmes for staff as appropriate including referrers and care staff. To support therapy students on placement.
14. Set a high personal standard of practice and relate practice to available evidence, maintaining up to date knowledge of clinical professional development and incorporate this appropriately into clinical practice. Observe and implement the Professional Code of Practice and to share this with others.
15. Develop critical appraisal skills and work to develop evidence-based protocols of practice in conjunction with national / special interest group guidelines
16. Support the team in the use of fortnightly ‘reflective practice sessions’ for on-going development of client-centred service delivery.
17. Work within Trust and Departmental policies and procedures.
STAFF MANAGEMENT:
1. Co-ordinate staff to facilitate early supported discharge from hospital and meet the Intermediate Care, preventative and rehab agendas for clients with neurological impairments across the service.
2. Provide regular monitoring and review of staff performance, including regular supervision, formal appraisal, feedback and goal-setting for delegated staff (including students, therapy assistants and Band 5 & 6 physiotherapy therapy staff).
3. Monitor the level and standard of work undertaken by your staff and guide, coach and advise them as appropriate. Provide briefing prior to and debriefing after all training and development activities.
4. Facilitate the personal and professional development of staff. This involves identifying training and development needs, providing suitable development opportunities and evaluating development actions in accordance with the Trust/Council’s appraisal and training procedures and local competency frameworks.
5. Effectively induct new staff into Trust/Department in accordance with the Service Induction Programme.
6. Be an active member of the in-service training programme. Plan, organise and deliver specialist advice and teaching to therapy colleagues, students, care staff, referrers and other members of the MDT.
7. Provide appropriate fieldwork placements for Physiotherapy students, liaising with the fieldwork co-ordinator and educational establishments.
MANAGEMENT AND ADMINISTRATION:
1. In conjunction with the Team Manager, senior colleagues and MDT members establish service priorities and contribute to the development of the service.
2. Be actively involved and lead service development including early supported discharge and the acute – community therapy pathway within the local area and therapy services through quality and clinical audit with support from the team leader to ensure the delivery of an efficient, high quality rehabilitation service.
3. Collate and report on information required for service evaluation.
4. To provide accurate and timely statistical information, according to trust and social services standards.
5. Contribute to the development of departmental guidelines as part of the Therapy Services clinical governance agenda.
6. Participation in management and administrative meetings as appropriate.
7. Contribute to wider audit clinical governance and research initiatives as required.
8. Planning, developing and maintaining comprehensive training and induction programmes for all permanent and temporary staff suitable to their roles and responsibilities across the service, and ensuring that all staff are effectively inducted into the team/trust in accordance with Trust‘s and Social Service’s induction programme.
9. To facilitate the professional and personal development of staff. This involves identifying training and development needs, providing suitable development opportunities and evaluating development actions in accordance with the Trust’s and training procedures.
10. To monitor the level and standard of work undertaken by staff and to guide, coach and advise them as appropriate. Provide briefing prior to and debriefing after all training and development activities.
11. To support the team leader in liaising and communicating with other Team Leaders, Service leads and managers within the Trust, Social Services, Primary Care Trust and other teams and agencies within the City and Hackney Boroughs, to promote and implement a seamless service.
This job description outlines the current main responsibilities of the post. However the duties of the post may change and develop over time and this job description may, therefore be amended in consultation with the postholder.
The Homerton University Hospital NHS Foundation Trustsitsin themiddle ofone of the most diverse locations in the world. To this end we are committed to and champion equality and diversity in all aspects of our employment practice and service delivery. All employees are expected to understand and respect this commitment and work with us to promote equality and diversity in the course of their work.
Employees, in line with the Trust’s commitment to the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Previously known as the ‘Hygiene Code’), improving infection control and health and safety are individually required to ensure that they make every effort to contribute to making the Homerton Hospital a clean and safe environment within which to work and receive care.
All employees of the Trust are required to observe legislation, Trust policies, standards and guidelines relating to Health and Safety, Infection Control, Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Previously known as the ‘Hygiene Code’), Risk Management, Safeguarding Children, Safeguarding Adults, Equal Opportunities, Confidentiality, Data Protection, Freedom of Information and the Trust Code of Behaviour.
All staff have a responsibility to safeguard and promote the welfare of children and adults. The post holder will undertake the appropriate level of training and is responsible for ensuring that they understand and work within the safeguarding policies of the organisation.
All staff have a responsibility to prevent and control infection within Homerton Hospital. This includes ensuring personal and team compliance with the Hygiene Code (Health and Social Care Act 2008) and all relevant policies including Hand Hygiene, Homerton Dress Code and MRSA screening.
It is the responsibility of leaders of the Trust to demonstrate and foster the Trust’s commitment to environmental sustainability and corporate social responsibility by acting as a role model and enabling others. It is the responsibility of all staff to minimise the Trust’s environmental impact by recycling wherever possible, switching off lights, computers, monitors and equipment when not in use, minimising water wastage and reporting faults promptly.
Living Our Values – How We at the Homerton Work
Safe – We will do everything we can to make our services as safe as possible and create a positive learning environment. We will do this by:
· being open and honest when we get things wrong, and doing all we can to correct and learn from our mistakes
· listening to our staff, patients, service users and their carers and using their feedback to improve services
· ensuring that we have the right staff, with the right skills, caring for each patient
· constantly monitoring standards of care and responding quickly if there are concerns
Responsibility – We will take responsibility for our actions and any problems that we come across – we lead by example. We will do this by:
· being open and transparent about our performance and setting challenging improvement targets
· thinking differently and looking for new and innovative ways of working
· ensuring our care is evidence based and follows best practice
· doing the right thing, even when it is difficult
Personal – We will provide care which addresses individual needs and focuses on our patients, service users, their families and carers, and our staff. We will do this by:
· ensuring that relationships with patients and service users are founded on compassion, empathy and kindness
· appreciating each person as an individual and addressing their specific needs
· actively listening to and involving patients and service users in decisions about their care
· providing continuity of care through good communication and teamwork
Respectful – We will treat others as we would expect ourselves or our families to be treated and cared for. We will do this by:
· treating everyone with dignity and respect
· listening to others and valuing their contribution
· providing services that meet the diverse needs of our communities
· valuing and supporting the health and wellbeing of all our staff
PERSON SPECIFICATION
POST Specialist Physiotherapist (neurology) BAND 7
DEPT/UNIT Therapy at Home DATE 15th January 2015
ESSENTIAL / DESIRABLE / MEANS OF ASSESSMENTEducation / Qualifications / Degree/diploma in Physiotherapy
State registration
Further post-graduate courses in related area. / Member of relevant Clinical Interest Group. / A
HPC cert.
Certificate
A
Skills/ Abilities / Ability to demonstrate staff values
Senior level of clinical skills.
Ability to assess and implement appropriate treatment for a range of neurological conditions
Able to manage caseload and to prioritise under pressure for self and team.
Clear, concise verbal and written reporting skills.
Able to clinically supervise and develop staff, including therapy assistants.
Able to appraise staff and identify development / training needs
High level of problem solving, planning and time management skills.
Ability to work within a MDT.
Able to implement teaching programmes within the field, suitable for different staff groups.
Demonstrates effective communication skills with all disciplines and agencies to optimise patient / client management.
Be familiar with Windows based packages
Leadership potential.
Awareness of own competency level and how to seek appropriate help. / Recruitment and selection skills.
Project experience / A / I
Experience / Broad general experience at junior level.
Senior experience in neurology.
Evidence of staff supervision and appraisal experience.
Experience of working within a variety of settings, including community and/or social services.
Stroke rehabilitation experience / Experience of working with people from a variety of cultural backgrounds / A/I
Knowledge / Knowledge/understanding of confidentiality issues
Appropriate assessment tools for this client group.
Current physiotherapy practice in the delivery of intermediate care services to clients and carers.
Client-centred long-term and short-term goal setting.
Understanding of confidentiality issues.
Outcome measures and other quality issues e.g. audit.
Risk management / clinical governance principles.
Health needs in a multi-racial community. / Practical research skills and understanding of its use in this field.
Relevant national and London –wide policy relevant to Stroke eg RCP guidelines, NSF for LT conditions / A/I
Other Requirements / Commitment to Equal Opportunities
Professional manner.
Able to respond to pressure & time limits appropriately.
Able to work in a flexible way to suit the needs of the service.
Travel around the London Borough of Hackney to client’s homes as required.
Manage physical requirements of the job. / A / I / P
Key; A Application Form I Interview P Presentation