Hand Therapist ( Occupational therapist/Physiotherapist)

at  Croydon Health Services NHS Trust

Hand Therapist Band 6 0.5 WTE/ 18.75 hours per week
We are looking for a dynamic and experienced hand therapy Occupational Therapist or physiotherapist to work within our Hand Therapy department at Croydon Health. We are a small but dedicated hand therapy service based in the outpatient department of Croydon University Hospital, providing clinical expertise for a caseload of hand therapy patients from multiple referral routes. The team consists of a band 8a, band 7 and 2 band 6 occupational therapists/physiotherapists and our own administrator. There will be close working with our 3 consultant hand/upper limb orthopaedic colleagues and their teams, as well as other teams such as rheumatology, and the inpatient therapists. We regularly met with the hand consultants to jointly discuss cases. This post will offer an opportunity to advance your clinical and leadership skills. Jointly with the 8a team lead, the successful candidate will assist with service development, quality improvement, reviewing and developing hand therapy clinical pathways, supporting junior staff, education and ensuring the service is able to provide safe, high quality, evidence based, and holistic management of hand therapy patients. There is a well-structured professional development programme combining in service training, journal reviews, practical training sessions and supervision.
Interview date TBC
To provide high quality and specialist Hand Therapy Physiotherapy/occupational therapy interventions to a wide variety of outpatients including the advanced assessment and treatment of hand trauma, elective surgery, Rheumatology, MSK physiotherapy or GP referred patients, provision of individual and group education and treatment, provision of custom hand splints and other equipment. To utilise specialist skills to work without direct supervision with patients who vary greatly in age, communication ability, language, functional ability, cultural and social background.
To work in a highly diverse, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and socio-economically varied environment and gain further skills in outpatient hand therapy. Ensure treatment is of the highest standards regardless of cultural or language differences and support the staff you supervise in doing likewise. About us Croydon Health Services NHS Trust provide hospital and community services from a number of community and specialist clinics throughout Croydon.
Croydon Health Services NHS Trust provide hospital and community services from a number of community and specialist clinics throughout Croydon. The Trust was formed on 1st August 2010 through the integration of Croydon Community Health Services and Mayday Healthcare NHS Trust. Around 4,100 staff provide services for a population of over 360,000 people who are relatively young with a high level of ethnic diversity.
Our main hospital site, Croydon University Hospital is one of the busiest in London. We’re also leading the way in providing more healthcare outside hospitals at clinics, specialist centres and in people’s homes. Our experienced district nursing teams, Allied Health Professionals and community matrons look after people of all ages across Croydon and our Children’s Hospital at Home cares for children with long-term conditions without them having to come to hospital.
Across the NHS everyone is working hard to meet growing demand and we’re no exception. But with the right people on board, we are rising to this challenge, putting our people in the driving seat, encouraging innovation and transforming our services to give local people the quality of care they deserve. Croydon Health Services puts a great deal of importance on education and training throughout the careers of all of our staff. As well as offering access to a range of core skills training and professional development.
1. To be professionally and legally accountable for all aspects of the practitioners professional duties.
2. To provide comprehensive and ongoing assessment for each patient in areas including movement, function, dexterity, oedema, pain and sensation.
3. To maintain accurate, up to date and comprehensive patient treatment records detailing individual assessment and treatment plans and progress using the standard hand therapy documentation protocol.
4. To ensure the patient, their family and carers are involved in the planning and delivery of their own care.
5. To plan and implement appropriate treatment regimes using hand therapy treatment media (using modalities from both physiotherapy and occupational therapy).
6. To evaluate clinical outcomes.
7. To provide a theoretical background for each patient about their injury/disease and, where appropriate, to advise the patients for future management.
8. To accompany patients to their consultant appointments when appropriate and liaise with the consultants regarding the progress of their patients.
9. To provide timely and accurate reports, with the patient’s consent, to external organisations e.g. factual reports for legal purposes regarding the patient’s medical condition.
10. To maintain accurate and up-to-date records on patient treatment in accordance with the HCPC guidelines and standards for record keeping and to ensure that more junior and unqualified staff do likewise.
11. To set and maintain a high personal standard of work and ensure more junior and unqualified staff do the same, in order to teach them to monitor their standards.
12. To communicate appropriate complex information effectively to patients and/or carers, from a multicultural and ethnically diverse population, where there may also be medical barriers to their understanding (this may involve the use of interpreters and/or non-verbal communication aids). To inform them of the benefits and risks of suggested treatment options and to gain valid informed consen

Please refer the Job description for details