We are looking for a passionate individual with relevant experience working as a senior therapy support worker to join our
Integrated Therapy Team as a band 4 Therapy Assistant Practitioner. Applicants
need to have a willingness to learn and develop in line with the collaborative
ethos of the team and service as well as a passion for providing therapeutic
intervention and rehabilitation to people with neurological and complex
physical and cognitive presentations. This exciting role will work across sites
at Worcestershire Royal Hospital and Alexandra Hospital supporting the Acute
Stroke and Complex Care and Neurology teams. The role will require the
successful applicant to work alongside the therapy team and independently with
a defined caseload. They will provide skilled therapeutic input on rotation between
both Teams, gaining experience, knowledge and skills through specific training and CPD opportunities as well as experiential learning and development. The successful applicant will join an existing team of Therapy
Assistant Practitioners within the Service and have opportunities to further
develop the role and their knowledge and skills, supported by a team of highly
experienced qualified Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy clinicians.
Rotation between the Acute Stroke Team and the Complex Care/Neuro Team.
In each area the role will involve application of core skills of patient assessment and treatment to support the acute phase of rehabilitation.
Maintenance of a home first approach with the aim of facilitating most appropriate ongoing management and support on discharge while recognising and supporting the complex needs of some patients requiring longer term inpatient rehabilitation.
Completion of competencies to support TAP role.
Provision of patient assessment within competent scope of practice and with a defined patient caseload.
Provision of therapeutic treatment with an integrated approach.
Completion of community visits as required and with support where needed (competencies are associated with this).
Assessment for and provision of equipment where needed to support safe and optimal function.
Attendance to meet caseload need across both Worcester and Redditch sites - this may be flexible and variable dependent upon caseload but could require attendance at Redditch for some or part of the week most weeks with Worcester being the main base for both the Acute Stroke and Complex Care/Neuro Teams.
Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust is a large
acute and specialised hospital trust that provides a range of local acute
services to the residents of Worcestershire and more specialised services to a
larger population in Herefordshire and beyond.
The Trust operates hospital-based services from
three sites in Kidderminster, Redditch and Worcester
Our workforce is more than 7,000 strong, and our
caring staff are recognised as providing good and outstanding patient-centred
care. You could be one of them.
We are committed to recruiting the best people to
work with us. Our values, which we ask all staff to demonstrate, underpin our
everyday work and remain firmly at the heart of all we do.
We are committed to developing a culture of continuous improvement by embedding the principles of our Improvement System.
We are proud to have achieved Timewise
accreditation - this means we are committed to embedding flexible working
within our organisation as a flex positive employer.
Any applicants who are offered posts requiring a
DBS check as part of their employment check will have the cost of this check
(at the current rate) deducted from their salary. Please see link in Supporting
Information section for more details on DBS checks and costs.
Job description
Job responsibilities
Post Title -Therapy
Assistant Practitioner
Pay Band - Band
4
Hours - 37.5
Location
/ Department - Therapies, Stroke/Neuro/Complex Care
Key Working
Relationships -
Therapists
and Line Managers in given speciality across the three sites, Therapies
Management Team, Medical and Nursing Staff, other health care professionals and
members of the Multidisciplinary Team (MDT), support staff, community care
co-ordinators, discharge co-ordinators, patients, carers, relatives, students,
palliative care team, community equipment stores.
Risk
Assessment -
This post involves frequent
manual handling activities e.g. hoisting, positioning, assisting
sitting/standing, transferring, toileting, providing personal care, giving
physical support during walking practice/exercise and occasional pushing of
large items of equipment/furniture. There is a frequent requirement for
moderate physical effort, including repetitive techniques e.g. passive
exercises, bed exercises, and an occasional requirement for intensive physical
effort for several short periods throughout the day, including loading and
unloading of equipment from transportation. The ability
to safely use tools to adjust equipment is required. Close contact with
patients frequently exposes the post holder to bodily fluids/infections e.g.
sputum, urine, blood, vomit, and faeces. The above can
be occasional and carried out within the acute hospital or within a patients
home environment. The above requires the ability to ensure the safety of
both patients and staff. The post holder may be required to lone work within the acute hospital or in patients home environments, e.g. the
delivery and fitting of equipment (mobile phones are supplied when staff are
working in the community).
There is frequent need for
prolonged concentration and involvement in emotionally distressing situations,
such as dealing with bad news, terminal illness, death, and bereavement, where
empathy and support for patients, carers and other team members will be needed.
Work pattern is often unpredictable with frequent interruptions/changes.
Job
Purpose -
Working as part of the Therapy and wider
MDT, Therapy Assistant Practitioners (TAP) use enhanced skills in a specialist
area to provide direct high quality and effective therapeutic care and support
to a defined group of patients. Within the scope of the role, the post holder
will independently (unsupervised) plan and deliver individual or group tasks
where the understanding of role boundaries and the importance of supervision
and carrying out delegated tasks and plans is essential.
This role requires understanding of
factual and theoretical knowledge of principles, policies, protocols,
procedures, processes within a defined group of patients. Although work is
guided by standard operating procedures and protocols, the post holder must be
able to make judgements to plan activities assess, treat and progress/grade and
adapt treatment of patients in line with competencies set and assessed by the
Registered Therapist. This knowledge should be utilised to contribute to
effective discharge planning as part of the MDT.
The post holder will also co-ordinate
and assist with the training and management of other Therapy Support Workers,
thus providing a quality and effective support service to the Therapy Team.
They will contribute to service development and demonstrate personal
development as well as being responsible for supervision of others and
delegation of tasks to other non-registered staff.
The post holder will participate in the
weekend service. The speciality being dependant on experience. This service may
include the treatment of children.
Working hours will be dependent upon the
service provided within each speciality, this may include 7-day working, working contracted hours within an
extended daily pattern or participation in a relevant weekend /bank
holiday rota.
Key Duties -
Detailed further in supporting information but in the following 8 domains -
Domain 1 - Formal
Knowledge and Experience
Domain 2 - Supporting service users.
Domain 3 - Clinical, Technical and Scientific Roles and Responsibilities, Knowledge and
Practice, Support, and Interventions.
Domain 4 - Communication and Information Management.
Domain 5 - Safe
and Inclusive Environments.
Domain 6 - Research and Service Improvement.
Domain 7 - Leadership and Management.
Domain 8 - Personal and Professional Values and Behaviours.
WAHT Vision and Values -
The Trust aims to
provide local services for local people. It has developed its vision to reflect
this commitment:
Being open and honest we all
communicate clearly and honestly, asking for.
help
when we need it and making it easier for the people around us to share.
ideas
and concerns
Ensuring people feel cared for
we all take responsibility for actively supporting.
and
nurturing a kind and compassionate environment for ourselves and others
Showing respect for everyone
we all act with consideration and fairness,
valuing
each other as individuals and appreciating our different perspectives.
To continue to be
the major provider of acute/specialist services for the people of
Worcestershire (and wider) with a strong reputation for providing outstanding,
high quality, reliable, accessible and integrated healthcare for local people.
Standard
Clauses -
The purpose of this
post should remain constant, but the duties and responsibilities may vary over
time within the overall role and level of the post. The post holder may from
time to time be asked to undertake other reasonable duties. Any such changes
will be made in discussion with the post holder in the light of service needs.
Competence
The post holder is
responsible for limiting his / her actions to those which s/he feels competent
to undertake. If the post holder has any doubts as to his or her competence
during his / her duties, then s/he should immediately speak to their line
manager or supervisor.
Codes
of conduct
All employees of
the Trust who are required to be registered with a professional body, to enable
them to practise within their profession, are required to comply with their
code of conduct and requirements of their professional registration. Those
staff that are not required to be registered with a professional body are
required to comply with the Trusts codes of conduct.
Confidentiality
The post holder
must maintain confidentiality, security and integrity of information relating
to patients, staff, and other Health Service business.
Records
Management
All employees of
the Trust are legally responsible for all records that they gather, create or
use as part of their work within the Trust (including patient, financial,
personnel and administrative), whether paper or computer based. All such
records are considered public records, and all employees have a legal duty of
confidence to service users. Employees should consult their manager if they
have any doubt as to the correct management of records with which they work.
Health
and Safety
Employees must be
aware of the responsibilities placed on them under the Health and Safety at
Work Act (1974) and the Manual Handling Operations Regulations (1992) and all
relevant Trust Health and Safety Policies and Guidance. This ensures that the
agreed safety procedures are carried out to maintain a safe environment for
employees, patients, and visitors to the Trust.
Infection
Control
Employees must
accept personal responsibility and accountability for Infection Prevention and
Control practice. Employees should ensure they are familiar with, and comply
with, all relevant Infection Control policies for minimising the risk of
avoidable Health Care Associated Infection.
All Employees must undertake annual mandatory updates in Infection
Control.
Non-Smoking Policy
The Trusts approach to smoking is in line
with the governments on-going initiatives for an eventual smoke-free
environment. It aims to adhere to the Worcestershire Health Community Campaign
to help Worcestershire stop smoking.
A no smoking environment policy exists within
all Trust premises including entrances and exits to hospital buildings and on
other Trust property (with the exception of staff resident in
staff residences, as these are the homes of staff). In June 2014, a ban
was implanted which meant staff, contractors and volunteers were no longer
permitted to smoke in any of the hospital grounds, including car parks.
Further to this, The Alexandra, Kidderminster
and Worcestershire Royal Hospitals, have all become smoke free to all patients
and visitors as of 17 June 2015. This means that, as well as staff, members of
the public, patients and visitors are not allowed to smoke in any of the acute
hospital grounds, including car parks.
Risk
Management
It is a standard
element of the role and responsibility of all employees of the Trust that they
fulfil a proactive role towards the management of risk in all their actions. This
entails the risk assessment of all situations, taking appropriate actions, and
reporting all incidents, near misses, and hazards promptly. It is a contractual
obligation that all employees must co-operate with any investigations
undertaken.
Children
and vulnerable adults
You have a
responsibility for promoting and safeguarding the welfare of the children /
young people / vulnerable adults that you come into contact with or are
responsible for in your job role and sphere of competence.
