As an assistant practitioner in AAC WEST, you will work alongside a highly experienced multi disciplinary team to deliver AAC services to people with service communication difficulties living in the South West region
The role of the Assistant Practitioner within the AAC WEST team is to:
Prepare equipment as directed by the MDT for assessment and loan
Programme specialist AAC software as directed by MDT
To deliver software training sessions to those using AAC
To deliver 1:1 support sessions with patients as directed by MDT
North Bristol NHS Trust employs over 12,000 staff providing high quality healthcare to the population we support. Our vision is that by enabling our teams to be the best that they can be, we will provide exceptional healthcare, personally delivered.
We commit to treating each patient as an individual with respect and dignity, aiming to deliver excellent clinical outcomes and a first-class experience for everyone who uses our services.
North Bristol NHS Trust values all people as individuals. We aim to be an antidiscriminatory organisation and are committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. We welcome applicants from all underrepresented groups
Duties within this role will include
During Assessments
Input into the assessment planning sessions by sharing knowledge of the software, hardware and vocabularies contained within the various AAC devices used
Prepare equipment as requested by the MDT in equipment planning sheets
Programme equipment with relevant information as directed by MDT
Provide basic technical support during assessments to support MDT
Write clinical observations during assessments to feed back to MDT
Support the MDT with admin during assessments
To contribute in the driving to and from patient visits with MDT
Equipment Programming
With guidance, prepare equipment for use during trial loan period. This will involve personalising AAC vocabularies and occasional programming basic EAT operations
Liaise with local teams to collate relevant vocabularies
A broad knowledge of each of the commonly used specialist AAC software packages
Training
To provide training to patients and their carers on the care and programming of communication aids prior to the short term loan of equipment.
Contribute to the rolling programme of software training in conjunction with departmental peers
Support in the admin of delivering a rolling programme of AAC training
To deliver bespoke training on AAC where requested
Support
To support patients and their carers through the assessment process and provide feedback to the MDT re: the progress of targets.
To provide basic technical support to individuals during an equipment evaluation loan period.
Where required, partake in communication partner work to model good practice
To independently run support clinics either face to face or via remote platforms
General
To participate in and attend departmental meetings
To participate in appraisal process in line with Trust policies
To identify own training needs and to participate in appropriate training accordingly
To assist with the planning and delivery of awareness raising events and training courses to professionals and members of the public as appropriate
To bring to the attention of the BCAS lead clinicians any issues appropriate to the post and the department
Bring to the attention of line manager any service improvement suggestions
To maintain up to date and accurate case notes and records in line with Trust Policy, as needed.
To gather activity data accurately and to record this in line with Trust Polic

Please refer the Job description for details