Band 8a Advanced Practitioner Physiotherapist

at  University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust

We are looking for an enthusiastic Advanced Practitioner to join our friendly and innovative Outpatient Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy team based at the University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust.
The post offers the opportunity to work with both primary and secondary care patients and to be part of the Integrated Musculoskeletal Therapy pathway for Coventry. You will also work as part of our First Contact Practitioner (FCP) team, working in GP practices in Coventry. You will be able to see a wide variety of conditions from GP referrals, Occupational Health referrals and post-surgical referrals.
This post will allow you to further develop your clinical skills as a senior member of the team. You will also have increased responsibility supporting our staff by helping to develop their skills and knowledge
Whilst in post you will have access to regular IST with structured 1:1 supervision provided as well as a quarterly training day, focusing on developing your skills, discussing case studies and advancing your clinical knowledge with our other APs, FCPs, Extended Scope Practitioners and Consultant Physiotherapist.
There are two posts available and we would also consider a Trainee Advanced Practitioner Physiotherapist Band 7- 8a. Scoring on the day of the interview will determine which post the successful candidates are offered.
UHCW fully supports the development of MSK Band 7 FCPs towards advanced practice and a role at 8a. UHCW would support your application to a HEI to undertake a MSc in Advanced Practice (subject to discussion with the physiotherapy management team) with Consultant Physiotherapy support throughout the process. Upon achieving the MSc in Advanced Practice, your work will be appraised locally to determine your professional progression into an 8a Advanced Practice physio role.
Be responsible for the specialist triage and management of patients in General Practice and/or in a sub-speciality area of MSK practice, either electronically, by telephone or face-to-face. Manage own or shared complex caseload and work independently and autonomously taking responsibility for all aspects of your intervention.
Undertake advanced therapeutic assessment of patients presenting with complex physical and psychological conditions, using advanced clinical reasoning skills to provide a diagnosis, develop and agree a goal orientated management plan and deliver individual and group treatment programmes. Ensure clinical performance review takes the form of regular training, support, clinical reasoning and peer review.
Promote the principles of Personalised Care, including shared-decision making, motivational conversation and patient activation within own practice and encourage colleagues and members of the wider multidisciplinary teams to facilitate a culture of patient-centred care.
University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, rated as good by the Care Quality Commission, is one of the largest teaching Trusts in the UK.
We are extremely proud of our employees across our hospital sites, with high quality patient care at the heart of everything we do.
Boasting some of the most modern facilities in Western Europe, the Trust is renowned for being at the forefront of research and innovation as part of its blossoming reputation as a worldwide leader in healthcare.
We are proud to be recognised as a Pathway to Excellence ® designated organisation – please click the link for further details about this prestigious award. Pathway To Excellence ® - University Hospitals Coventry & Warwickshire (uhcw.nhs.uk)
By joining our exciting journey, you will form part of a passionate, talented team and will be able to access a wide range of learning and development opportunities. There has never been a better time to join our team.
The Trust is committed to building an organisation that makes full use of the talents, skills, experience, and different perspectives available in our diverse society. We want everyone to feel they are respected, valued, can achieve their potential and receive the most appropriate and relevant care. We will create an environment where the equality and human rights principles of fairness, respect, equality, dignity and autonomy are promoted and are part of the organisation’s core values.
Lead a specialist area or pathway within musculoskeletal physiotherapy practice (First Contact Practice in primary care) providing expert advice, education and support within your sub-specialty area to physiotherapy and multi- disciplinary colleagues, patients, carers and third sector organisations.
Provide clinical leadership and mentorship to Band 7 Physiotherapists, Rotational Band 6 and 5 Physiotherapists and Physiotherapy support workers within the speciality through supervision, assessment, education and development including both planned and experiential learning opportunities.
Lead the supervision and assessment of undergraduate/post-graduate Physiotherapy students within Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation as required ensuring the standard of practice and teaching meets the standards set by a degree/higher degree level.
Learning and Educ ation
Be responsible for maintaining and developing current knowledge of evidence-based practice ensuring own competency to practice through continuing professional development (CPD) activities
Be an active member of the continuing education, in-house programmes by the attendance and presentation at staff meetings, tutorials, training sessions, journal clubs, external courses, clinical supervision and reflective practice.
Undertakes annual mandatory training and ‘essential to job role’ updates and other relevant courses in line with professional and Trust policies.
Develop and provide expert advice, teaching and training to other members of the MDT as appropriate, both internal and external to the trust. This may be formal or informal.
Be responsible and proactive in developing own professional practice, demonstrating evidence of increasing autonomy, clinical judgement and decision making skills and maintain a portfolio that reflects personal development, whilst contributing to the development of others.
Provide supervision, support and training for physiotherapists and foundation advanced clinical practitioners enabling them to develop and apply their knowledge and skills in practice. Provide timely feedback to individual practitioners and their line managers to support this process, identifying, reporting and proactively dealing with poor performance.
Advise, guide and teach less experienced physiotherapists, assistants and students in the assessment and management of patient and other aspects of clinical care
Promote and support the musculoskeletal physiotherapy profile within Higher Education Institutions, working to ensure pre-registration training reflects current healthcare demands and evidence-based practice.
Leadership and Management
Act in such a way as to be a credible, effective leader demonstrating clinical leadership on a daily basis
Manage own diary and workload
Act as a role model in the clinical area, promoting and demonstrating the standards of care and behaviours expected. Provide appropriate challenge to individuals when required raising quality issues and related risks with relevant people and addressing poor performance as per Trust policy (i.e. complaints and incidents, poor communication with patients, relatives or staff).
Share knowledge and expertise related to clinical and professional practice within and outside the organisation.
Undertake mentorship and clinical supervision for more junior staff, assessing competence against set standards
Encourage others to make realistic self-assessment of their application of knowledge and skills, challenging any complacency or actions that are not in the interest of the public and/or users of services
Manage specifically identified services or projects as agreed with the therapy management team and speciality team.
Responsible for the development of local guidelines, protocols, clinical pathways and standards, ensuring they are kept up to date
Be responsible for the delivery of the Musculoskeletal Physiotherapy Services, ensuring a robust framework is maintained to support triage and management of waiting lists and ensuring compliance with national targets.
Lead the line management, supervision and co-ordination of staff within a sub-speciality area including the discussion of contentious issues with staff and the daily management of informal disciplinary matters, conflict and disputes.
Participate in working groups within the MSK Service, wider multi-disciplinary team and healthcare community including directives such as Right Care Right Here/ Transforming Community Services and the development of social prescribing. Contribute to the development of policy changes and integrated pathway development.
Participate in recruitment and retention within the Musculoskeletal Services by undertaking promotional activity, selection procedures, interviewing and staff support and development
Demonstrate and plan efficient and effective use of resources against the agreed speciality or team budgets.
Contribute towards the development of Advanced Clinical Practice with the trust and continued national development
Encourage and influence the multidisciplinary team to identify and discuss opportunities to develop clinical practice, protocols, policies and guidance for the speciality utilising current evidence and ensuring meaningful consultation, effective evaluation and sharing of results.
Evidence, Research and Development
Ensure own and others clinical practise is research and evidence based
Undertake the measurement and evaluation of current practice through the use of audit of PROMs and participate in other service evaluation activities as required to support the collection of data and reporting of KPIs.
Provide an authoritative and credible source of knowledge and specialist clinical advice/information to the team by keeping abreast of new treatments and technologies for the speciality.
Actively maintains self-development, objectively reviewing own performance in terms of management, clinical practice and decision making, identifying own needs and taking steps to meet those needs.
Be responsible and proactive for maintaining and developing own competency to practice through a variety of CPD activities
Continually evaluate and audit the practice of self and others selecting and applying a broad range of evaluation approaches and methods.
Critically appraise the outcomes of relevant research, evaluations and audits and apply them to improve practice.
Alert individuals and organisations to gaps in evidence and/or practice
Contribute to specialist forums and National initiatives.
Identify potential areas for therapy research. Assist the development of other therapy staff within the department to enable them to carry out their own research projects in line with their own CPD
Contribute to proposed and ongoing research relevant to speciality area
Communication
Document clearly all aspects of the assessment, diagnosis and the management plan in line with HCPC standards, Chartered Society of Physiotherapy (CSP) Core Standards, Trust policies and legal requirements.
Communicate complex information effectively to patients and carers, recognising the need for alternative methods of communication to overcome different levels of understanding, cultural background and preferred ways of communicating. This may include the sharing and receiving of highly complex and sensitive information.
In all aspects of work, challenge and demonstrate an ability to work autonomously across organisational and professional boundaries.
Present information to others in an informed, logical and reasoned manner, even where the evidence may be conflicting
Develop and maintain close working relationships with therapy colleagues and other members of the multidisciplinary team.
Communicate service related information to managers and staff using clear articulation, negotiation and persuasion skills
Develop formal and informal links outside the organisation, sharing good practice, innovative ideas and promote staff and service development.
Establish and maintain a regional and national network of contacts relevant to the service.
Ensure awareness of sources of support and guidance (eg PALS) and provide information in an acceptable format to all patients, recognising any difficulties and referring where appropriate
To assess capacity, gain valid informed consent and have the ability to work within a legal framework with patients who lack capacity to consent to treatment.
Demonstrates an empathetic and reassuring approach to communicating highly sensitive condition related information and advice to patients, carers and relatives.
For further details of the role please see the attached job description

Please refer the Job description for details